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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · sharp · ground · fall · squash · kick · file · coach

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. ground — the earth
  4. stem — to come from
  5. squash — to crush
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. ground — crushed
  9. kick — in football
  10. file — a tool
  11. ground — a position
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. fall — the season
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — to drop
  20. squash — the sport
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. fall — to drop
  23. file — a line of people
  24. sharp — clever

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