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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: fan · stem · toast · lean · object · hand · band · mine

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. stem — to come from
  2. object — to protest
  3. toast — bread
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mine — for digging
  7. band — a music group
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. object — an aim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. lean — thin
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. hand — help
  14. lean — to bend
  15. object — a thing
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. band — a ring
  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