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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: mate · coach · roll · can · toast · last · fan · file

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. mate — a partner
  7. can — to be able to
  8. roll — a cake
  9. last — to go on
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. file — a tool
  12. can — a tin
  13. file — a document
  14. mate — to breed
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. mate — a friend
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. can — a tin
  23. roll — a list
  24. file — a line of people

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