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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: file · perch · fan · cold · can · stem · land · calf

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. land — to come down
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stem — to come from
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. file — a tool
  10. can — a tin
  11. land — a country
  12. can — a tin
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. can — to be able to
  19. perch — the fish
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. file — a document
  22. land — ground
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. file — a line of people

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