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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: row · rush · ground · bass · court · chest · lie · spell

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. ground — a position
  6. row — a line
  7. court — for sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. court — of a king
  10. bass — low music
  11. lie — to recline
  12. spell — a short time
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bass — the fish
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. court — of law
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rush — hurry
  21. chest — a box
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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