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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 · foot · last · chair · bowl · calf · clip · season

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. season — of the year
  3. last — finally
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. chair — a leader
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. season — in sport
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. last — final
  15. clip — for paper
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. clip — a video
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. foot — a measure
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — part of the body

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