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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: lie · calf · land · bass · last · chip · game · chest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. land — ground
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. last — to go on
  7. game — a match
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. land — a country
  10. chip — to eat
  11. land — to come down
  12. last — final
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. last — finally
  16. bass — the fish
  17. chest — a box
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. chest — of your body
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. lie — to recline

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