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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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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: last · march · fan · spell · coach · wound · stem · mate

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. spell — a short time
  7. march — the month
  8. spell — magic
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wound — an injury
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mate — to breed
  15. stem — to come from
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. last — to go on
  22. spell — letters
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. stem — of a plant

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