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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: lean · bore · rush · clip · last · chest

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. chest — of your body
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chest — a box
  11. last — finally
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. clip — for paper
  16. last — to go on
  17. lean — thin
  18. bore — to drill

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