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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. stem — to come from
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. club — for dancing
  11. saw — the tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. club — for golf
  17. saw — the tool
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — a video
  20. staff — a stick
  21. club — a group
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. sharp — exactly

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