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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: kid · chair · staff · clip · rock · kick · bank · wave

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. bank — for money
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rock — music
  5. clip — a video
  6. staff — a stick
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. kid — to tease
  10. staff — employees
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. bank — for money
  15. rock — a stone
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. chair — a leader
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. staff — employees
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — in football
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. kid — child

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