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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: hide · bass · bat · lash · wound · pop · cell · chest

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. pop — music
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cell — a phone
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — of your body
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chest — a box
  18. pop — soda
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bass — the fish
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bass — low music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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