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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 · last · squash · rule · capital · file · bay

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. file — a document
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. last — finally
  11. stem — to come from
  12. squash — to crush
  13. capital — a city
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — government
  16. file — a line of people
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. last — to go on
  19. capital — money
  20. file — a tool
  21. squash — the sport
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. rule — a law

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