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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 120 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: wind · chip · patient · staff · nail · hand · chest · file

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. staff — employees
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. file — a document
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chest — a box
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. file — a line of people
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. chip — for betting
  13. file — a tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. staff — employees
  17. wind — moving air
  18. staff — a stick
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. chip — to eat
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chest — of your body

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