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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. staff — a stick
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. row — a line
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. mine — for digging
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. row — to paddle
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. stand — to bear
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. fall — the season
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. drill — army training
  24. staff — employees

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