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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: chair · nail · spring · rest · hand · rock · row · scale

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rest — what's left
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rest — a break
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rock — music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. scale — size or range
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. hand — help
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. spring — of water
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. row — a line
  22. hand — in cards
  23. scale — in music
  24. rest — what's left

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