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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: rest · ball · hand · drill · chest · arm · content · chair

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. drill — a practice
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ball — a dance
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chair — a leader
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chest — a box
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — of your body
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. chest — of your body
  20. drill — army training
  21. ball — a great time
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. content — happy
  24. drill — the tool

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