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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: bank · chair · fall · arm · lean · clip · rush · chest

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — a video
  3. chest — of your body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bank — for money
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — hurry
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. lean — thin
  16. chest — a box
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. fall — the season
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fall — to drop

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