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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 120 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: lean · clip · rest · chest · spell · bat · squash · pound

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — what's left
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. spell — letters
  5. bat — the animal
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. clip — for paper
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. squash — the sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. spell — magic
  16. lean — thin
  17. spell — a short time
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rest — a break
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. squash — to crush
  24. chest — of your 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