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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 · mine · key · hand · bat · stem · foot · mark

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. staff — employees
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. foot — a measure
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a grade
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bat — the animal
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. staff — employees
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. key — in music
  23. mark — a trace
  24. key — for a lock

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