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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: rush · plane · trunk · bound · chest · wake · scale · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bound — obliged
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. chest — a box
  6. clip — for paper
  7. plane — a tool
  8. scale — in music
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. chest — of your body
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bound — tied together
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. scale — size or range
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bound — certain
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. scale — for weighing

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