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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: present · mug · coach · last · stem · shower · spell · face

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mug — a cup
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. last — final
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. spell — letters
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. stem — to come from
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — to go on
  11. spell — magic
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mug — to rob
  14. present — there
  15. face — to confront
  16. shower — to wash
  17. mug — a face
  18. last — finally
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. spell — a short time
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. present — the time now

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