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

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a music group
  6. shower — to wash
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. shower — rain
  12. chest — a box
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pitch — completely
  20. band — a ring
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bass — the fish
  24. tear — from crying

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