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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: lie · hand · kid · tear · board · last · file · staff

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. staff — a stick
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. hand — help
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. last — to go on
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hand — in cards
  12. lie — to recline
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. board — to get on
  20. tear — to rip
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. board — a committee

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