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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pop — to visit
  8. bass — low music
  9. tear — to rip
  10. chest — a box
  11. rest — what's left
  12. sharp — clever
  13. tear — from crying
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pop — soda
  20. rest — what's left
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. rest — a break
  23. pop — music
  24. sharp — exactly

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