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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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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: wound · pit · lean · mouse · chest · bass · snap · dip

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. lean — to bend
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. lean — thin
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — low music
  11. chest — of your body
  12. dip — to sink
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wound — an injury
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. snap — to click
  19. pit — a hole
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. chest — a box
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wound — an injury

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