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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: land · bat · kick · scale · row · rest · hand · mug

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hand — help
  4. land — to come down
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. rest — a break
  8. row — to paddle
  9. scale — size or range
  10. kick — in football
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hand — in cards
  13. land — a country
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. scale — in music
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mug — a cup
  20. mug — a face
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. mug — to rob
  23. row — a line
  24. land — ground

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