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

Word bank: bass · chest · swing · race · row · kid

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bass — the fish
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kid — child
  5. race — humankind
  6. row — to paddle
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bass — low music
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. race — a contest
  16. chest — a box
  17. row — a line
  18. chest — of your body

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