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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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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: kid · bound · swing · bass · lie · hand · mate · spring

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bass — the fish
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. lie — to recline
  6. swing — in golf
  7. spring — the season
  8. swing — music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bass — low music
  12. kid — to tease
  13. spring — of water
  14. mate — a friend
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bound — tied together
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — obliged
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. mate — a partner
  24. swing — to play on

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