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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: bass · pop · chest · jam · game · cell · coach · stock

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — to visit
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bass — the fish
  5. pop — soda
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pop — music
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. game — a match
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bass — low music
  20. cell — a phone
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cell — in biology
  23. chest — a box
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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