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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 · sharp · kick · wave · clip · roll · scale · rest

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. rest — what's left
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. rest — a break
  7. roll — a list
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. roll — a cake
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. kick — in football
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. rest — what's left
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. clip — to cut
  24. scale — in 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