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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: staff · drill · kid · wind · fall · chest

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. fall — to drop
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wind — moving air
  6. drill — the tool
  7. kid — child
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fall — the season
  13. chest — a box
  14. wind — moving air
  15. drill — a practice
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. staff — employees
  18. fall — to drop

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