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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.

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: fan · stem · cold · bat · net · tear · file · mark

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. net — for catching
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. file — a document
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mark — a grade
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. net — after costs
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. net — in sport
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. file — a tool
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stem — to come from
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mark — a trace

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