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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitch · fan · fine · last · fall · season · race · file

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. race — humankind
  4. fine — all right
  5. file — a line of people
  6. last — to go on
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. last — final
  10. file — a tool
  11. last — finally
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fine — high quality
  16. fall — the season
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. race — a contest
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. season — of the year
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com