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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: stem · saw · last · net · pitch · band · kick · file

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. file — a tool
  12. band — a ring
  13. net — for catching
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. net — after costs
  16. stem — to come from
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kick — in football
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. net — in sport
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — finally
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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