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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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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: club · stem · capital · file · vault · fork · last · perch

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. last — finally
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for golf
  7. file — a line of people
  8. fork — in a road
  9. vault — a safe
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a tool
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a city
  16. last — to go on
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. capital — money
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. perch — the fish
  23. stem — to come from
  24. club — for dancing

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