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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: chest · file · wind · net · lean · rest · hand · kick

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wind — moving air
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. rest — a break
  6. kick — in football
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rest — what's left
  11. file — a line of people
  12. chest — of your body
  13. file — a document
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. lean — thin
  22. lean — to bend
  23. net — for catching
  24. rest — what's left

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