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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: game · chest · pop · wound · cell · arm · row · bass

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. row — a line
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. row — to paddle
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bass — low music
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cell — in biology
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cell — a phone
  20. pop — soda
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bass — the fish
  23. game — a match
  24. pop — to visit

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