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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: pound · date · chest · foot · pit · wind · clip · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  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. chair — a leader
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pit — a hole
  4. wind — moving air
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. date — the fruit
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — a video
  12. foot — a measure
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pit — in a race
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chest — a box
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  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