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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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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: wind · fan · bat · fork · tear · shower · rule · rest

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bat — the animal
  7. shower — to wash
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. rest — a break
  12. rule — a law
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. rule — government
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rest — what's left
  17. fork — in a road
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. shower — rain
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fork — to eat with

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