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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: chest · chair · row · file · snap · drill · land · staff

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. file — a line of people
  5. staff — a stick
  6. land — a country
  7. chest — a box
  8. drill — a practice
  9. chair — a leader
  10. staff — employees
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. file — a document
  13. drill — the tool
  14. staff — employees
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chest — of your body
  21. row — a line
  22. chest — of your body
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. land — to come down

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