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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · leaves · hand · bore · mate · lean · bass · chest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. hand — help
  3. lean — to bend
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — a box
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bore — to drill
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bore — to tire
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a partner
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. lean — thin
  21. bass — the fish
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mate — a friend
  24. lean — to rest against

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