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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: stem · kid · staff · hand · chip · pass · race · band

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. staff — employees
  3. band — a music group
  4. race — a contest
  5. hand — help
  6. stem — to come from
  7. staff — employees
  8. race — humankind
  9. chip — for betting
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chip — to eat
  19. kid — child
  20. race — the arms race
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. staff — a stick
  23. band — a ring
  24. pass — a permit

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