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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: staff · bore · fine · squash · land · game · bat · nail

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. fine — high quality
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. staff — a stick
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. staff — employees
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. land — ground
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. fine — all right
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bore — to tire
  18. land — to come down
  19. game — a match
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. land — a country
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. game — wild animals

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