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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. drill — a practice
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. staff — a stick
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. drill — army training
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wax — to grow
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. drill — the tool
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. stem — to come from
  21. file — a tool
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — in an idiom

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