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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.

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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: present · snap · bowl · bat · shower · hand · bass · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bass — the fish
  8. shower — rain
  9. chest — a box
  10. snap — to click
  11. hand — help
  12. present — the time now
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. bass — low music
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. chest — of your body
  18. present — there
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. shower — to wash
  22. present — a gift
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bowl — to roll

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