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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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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: chest · calf · pitch · perch · nail · lie · fan · row

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chest — of your body
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. pitch — completely
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. row — a line
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. perch — the fish
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chest — a box
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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