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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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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: land · staff · clip · arm · chest · rest · ruler · mate

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rest — a break
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. clip — to cut
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. staff — employees
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a partner
  12. staff — employees
  13. land — a country
  14. chest — a box
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. staff — a stick
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mate — to breed
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. mate — a friend
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. rest — what's left
  24. arm — part of the body

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