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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: stem · scale · file · drill · wind · march · chip · staff

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chip — for betting
  3. march — music
  4. drill — the tool
  5. staff — a stick
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — a practice
  12. file — a tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — employees
  18. scale — in music
  19. file — a document
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a line of people
  22. march — the month
  23. scale — size or range
  24. chip — in a computer

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