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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: kick · bank · scale · chair · chest · cold

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chest — of your body
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — a box
  8. kick — in football
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bank — of a river
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bank — for money
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg

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