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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: sharp · date · bass · present · chest · cell

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. present — the time now
  4. chest — of your body
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bass — the fish
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. date — the fruit
  12. cell — a phone
  13. present — there
  14. sharp — clever
  15. chest — a box
  16. bass — low music
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison

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