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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
468
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: land · present · ball · chest · file · bass

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. present — there
  3. present — the time now
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bass — the fish
  6. land — ground
  7. ball — a great time
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — a country
  10. file — a tool
  11. chest — a box
  12. land — to come down
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. present — a gift
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people

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