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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: staff · spell · row · saw · present · fall · hand · swing

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. swing — to play on
  3. staff — a stick
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. staff — employees
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. row — to paddle
  11. staff — employees
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. swing — music
  15. present — the time now
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. present — a gift
  20. spell — magic
  21. fall — the season
  22. swing — in golf
  23. row — a line
  24. present — there

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