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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: straw · rest · chest · kick · cell · stand · mate · rash

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mate — to breed
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. mate — a friend
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mate — a partner
  11. chest — a box
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rash — hasty
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kick — in football
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. cell — in biology
  21. chest — of your body
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. stand — to bear

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