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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: hand · pit · tube · staff · bay · board · kid · file

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. hand — help
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. tube — a container
  6. board — to get on
  7. staff — employees
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. board — a committee
  11. staff — a stick
  12. file — a tool
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. hand — in cards
  17. staff — employees
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pit — in a race
  20. kid — child
  21. pit — a hole
  22. file — a document
  23. tube — the underground
  24. file — a line of people

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