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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: kid · chest · ruler · row · band · staff

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kid — child
  4. row — to paddle
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. band — a music group
  7. chest — of your body
  8. staff — employees
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. row — a line
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. staff — a stick
  13. band — a ring
  14. chest — a box
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ruler — for measuring

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