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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · staff · saw · object · file · face · spell · degree

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. object — to protest
  3. staff — employees
  4. file — a document
  5. degree — temperature
  6. file — a line of people
  7. object — a thing
  8. spell — a short time
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hand — in cards
  11. face — to confront
  12. degree — an amount
  13. staff — employees
  14. spell — letters
  15. staff — a stick
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. hand — help
  19. face — part of the head
  20. object — an aim
  21. spell — magic
  22. file — a tool
  23. face — to point toward
  24. saw — the tool

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