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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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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: chest · rest · lash · bat · calf · fork

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. rest — a break
  14. fork — in a road
  15. chest — a box
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal

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