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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: sharp · bass · coach · land · chest · kick · rock · row

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. row — a line
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. land — a country
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. kick — in football
  11. rock — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rock — a stone
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. land — ground
  16. bass — the fish
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bass — low music
  19. land — to come down
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. rock — to move gently

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