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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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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: stock · trunk · fan · drill · sharp · tear · hand · saw

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. drill — a practice
  5. stock — goods
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. drill — army training
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. hand — help
  19. saw — the tool
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stock — shares
  24. drill — the tool

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