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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: hand · wind · land · rest · file · jam · staff · firm

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. land — to come down
  3. firm — steady
  4. staff — a stick
  5. land — ground
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. land — a country
  9. file — a document
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rest — a break
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. rest — what's left
  18. firm — decided
  19. hand — help
  20. rest — what's left
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. file — a line of people
  24. firm — a company

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