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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.

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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: fan · cold · file · rush · land · object · pass · chair

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. object — a thing
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. object — an aim
  9. pass — a permit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a tool
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. land — ground
  18. object — to protest
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a document
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. land — a country
  24. chair — a leader

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