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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. track — a song
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bass — low music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bound — tied together
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. track — to keep track
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bound — certain
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. track — a path
  20. perch — the fish
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. chest — of your body
  24. lash — to lash out

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