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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 · cell · spring · bass · rock · land · season · squash

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spring — the season
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. land — to come down
  9. spring — of water
  10. chest — a box
  11. season — in sport
  12. squash — the sport
  13. rock — music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. land — ground
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. bass — low music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rock — a stone
  22. season — of the year
  23. cell — a phone
  24. land — a country

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