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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · last · tear · pit · staff · hide

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. staff — employees
  3. kid — to tease
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. staff — a stick
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. staff — employees
  9. tear — to rip
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. last — finally
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. kid — child
  18. hide — animal skin

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