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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: kick · club · rush · rest · chest · bat · season · saw

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. saw — the tool
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. club — for golf
  8. rest — a break
  9. season — in sport
  10. club — a group
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. rest — what's left
  15. kick — in football
  16. club — for dancing
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rush — hurry
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. chest — a box
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. season — of the year

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