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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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 · land · hand · pit · sharp · calf · staff · file

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pit — a hole
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. land — a country
  5. file — a document
  6. wind — moving air
  7. staff — a stick
  8. land — ground
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. sharp — clever
  11. staff — employees
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. file — a line of people
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wind — moving air
  17. land — to come down
  18. hand — in cards
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. pit — in a race
  22. file — a tool
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. staff — employees

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