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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: staff · chest · squash · root · scale · pitcher · lean · clip

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chest — of your body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. chest — a box
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. squash — to crush
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — size or range
  13. lean — to bend
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. root — of a plant
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a word
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — to cut
  20. staff — employees
  21. lean — thin
  22. staff — employees
  23. scale — in music
  24. squash — the sport

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