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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 · chest · cap · key · wind · tear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. staff — a stick
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. staff — employees
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — in music
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. key — the most important part
  14. tear — from crying
  15. key — for a lock
  16. staff — employees
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cap — of ice

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