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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: tear · hand · file · staff · mate · temple · fan · spring

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. hand — help
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. tear — to rip
  10. spring — the season
  11. mate — a friend
  12. staff — a stick
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. spring — a coil
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. spring — of water
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. hand — in cards
  19. tear — from crying
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. file — a document
  23. staff — employees
  24. tear — from crying

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