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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 120 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: coach · bass · bat · arm · file · ground · pound · plane

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. plane — a tool
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. ground — the earth
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a tool
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. pound — a weight
  19. file — a document
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. ground — a position

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