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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: chest · perch · coach · land · rush · rest · mate · swing

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. mate — to breed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mate — a friend
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. swing — to play on
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. land — a country
  11. land — ground
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. mate — a partner
  15. rest — a break
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. land — to come down
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rest — what's left
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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