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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: wound · fan · sharp · kid · pitcher · staff · fall · field

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. staff — employees
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. staff — a stick
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fall — the season
  10. kid — child
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — a subject
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fall — to drop
  18. field — for sport
  19. fall — to drop
  20. kid — to tease
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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