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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: chest · wind · present · bore · trunk · bass · hide · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bass — the fish
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bass — low music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. land — to come down
  13. present — a gift
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — moving air
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bore — to drill
  19. present — there
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. land — ground
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. present — the time now
  24. hide — animal skin

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