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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — farmland
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. saw — the tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. field — for sport
  8. tube — a container
  9. saw — the tool
  10. staff — employees
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a document
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. tube — the underground
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a tool
  20. staff — a stick
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. field — a subject
  23. file — a line of people
  24. kid — child

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