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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: staff · drill · kid · wind · fall · chest · chip · shower

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kid — child
  4. staff — a stick
  5. fall — the season
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chip — for betting
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — the tool
  12. chip — to eat
  13. fall — to drop
  14. staff — employees
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chest — a box
  17. shower — rain
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — to wash
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wind — moving air
  23. staff — employees
  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