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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wind — moving air
  3. drill — army training
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. hand — in cards
  6. drill — the tool
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. hand — help
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. ground — a position
  17. pit — a hole
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. pit — in a race
  23. drill — a practice
  24. ground — the earth

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