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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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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: chest · leaves · object · rash · file · fan · cell · fork

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. object — to protest
  16. rash — a series
  17. object — an aim
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. file — a document
  24. chest — a box

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