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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 120 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: wake · face · clip · fork · sharp · fan · fall · content

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fall — to drop
  4. content — the amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. face — part of the head
  10. sharp — clever
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wake — a trail
  15. face — to point toward
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. content — happy
  19. face — to confront
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fall — the season
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wake — before a funeral

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