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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: fan · kid · spell · coach · degree · mark · saw · last

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. spell — magic
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. last — finally
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spell — a short time
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mark — a grade
  16. last — final
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — an amount
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — from a university
  21. last — to go on
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spell — letters
  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