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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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Word bank
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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: roll · drill · clip · chair · lean · wave · kid · row

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. lean — to bend
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. row — to paddle
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — to cut
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lean — thin
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. roll — a cake
  15. roll — a list
  16. row — a line
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. drill — army training
  19. clip — a video
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. chair — a leader
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. roll — on a roll

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