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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: bass · sharp · cold · lean · pound · bat · swing · mate

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mate — a partner
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pound — a weight
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bat — the animal
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bass — low music
  21. lean — thin
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — clever

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