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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 · board · track · chest · kid · lean · wind

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. track — to keep track
  4. board — to get on
  5. kid — child
  6. staff — employees
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. board — a committee
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wind — moving air
  16. staff — a stick
  17. wind — moving air
  18. staff — employees
  19. kid — to tease
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. lean — to bend
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. wind — to turn a key

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