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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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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: field · fan · season · spell · date · file · cold · stem

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. file — a document
  5. season — of the year
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. field — farmland
  8. stem — to come from
  9. spell — letters
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — a short time
  12. field — for sport
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. file — a tool
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. file — a line of people
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spell — magic
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. field — a subject
  24. season — in sport

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