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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: pound · bass · bulb · chest · wound · shower · lie · swing

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bass — low music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pound — a weight
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bulb — for light
  15. swing — to play on
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. swing — music
  18. bass — the fish
  19. chest — a box
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chest — of your body

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