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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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468
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: rash · staff · degree · file · racket · mine · lean · wind

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. file — a document
  6. degree — an amount
  7. staff — a stick
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. staff — employees
  10. wind — moving air
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — thin
  16. degree — from a university
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — hasty
  22. file — a tool
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. file — a line of people

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