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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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Word bank
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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: arm · drill · bound · file · land · roll · bat · staff

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. land — ground
  3. staff — employees
  4. file — a document
  5. land — to come down
  6. bound — obliged
  7. staff — a stick
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bound — certain
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. drill — a practice
  13. land — a country
  14. bound — tied together
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bat — the animal
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. roll — a cake
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. roll — a list
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. staff — employees
  24. file — a tool

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