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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 · band · present · ground · chair · game · rest · calf

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. rest — a break
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. present — the time now
  6. rest — what's left
  7. ground — crushed
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. ground — the earth
  11. rest — what's left
  12. game — a match
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chair — a leader
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. ground — a position
  18. band — a ring
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — a box
  21. present — a gift
  22. band — a music group
  23. game — wild animals
  24. 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