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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: scale · pound · straw · kid · root · chest · roll · rest

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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. rest — what's left
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. scale — in music
  10. root — of a word
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. root — of a plant
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. chest — a box
  17. roll — a list
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. root — the cause
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. roll — a cake

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