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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: land · file · rest · cell · last · stem · fan · mate

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cell — in biology
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. last — to go on
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a document
  12. cell — a phone
  13. last — final
  14. land — to come down
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. last — finally
  17. rest — what's left
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stem — to come from
  20. mate — to breed
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a tool
  23. mate — a friend
  24. stem — a stem cell

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