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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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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 · kid · game · drill · trunk · wind · rule · face

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — part of the head
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. drill — the tool
  10. staff — a stick
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. face — to point toward
  14. rule — government
  15. wind — moving air
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. drill — a practice
  18. game — a match
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — employees
  21. rule — a law
  22. drill — army training
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. kid — child

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