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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · racket · lie · foot · kick · wax · plane · clip

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. lie — to recline
  8. chest — a box
  9. clip — to cut
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. plane — a tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. kick — in football
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — a video
  24. wax — to grow

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