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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: stem · bark · hand · staff · drill · face · kid · file

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. file — a document
  3. staff — a stick
  4. kid — to tease
  5. hand — help
  6. face — part of the head
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. drill — army training
  10. hand — in cards
  11. drill — the tool
  12. face — to confront
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. file — a tool
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bark — to shout
  17. drill — a practice
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kid — child
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. staff — employees
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bark — of a tree

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