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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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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: racket · bore · chest · clip · lash · rest · lean · kid

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rest — what's left
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. lean — thin
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. kid — child
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. chest — a box
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lean — to bend
  16. chest — of your body
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bore — to drill
  19. clip — a video
  20. rest — what's left
  21. kid — to tease
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rest — a break
  24. racket — for tennis

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