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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · hide · file · band · drill · can · kid · degree

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. drill — the tool
  4. file — a tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. staff — employees
  7. file — a document
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — to tease
  10. staff — a stick
  11. degree — temperature
  12. can — a tin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. kid — child
  16. band — a music group
  17. can — a tin
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. file — a line of people
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. degree — an amount
  23. staff — employees
  24. drill — army training

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