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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: wind · bat · lash · chest · stand · bass · content · object

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — the animal
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. content — happy
  9. bass — the fish
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. object — an aim
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stand — to bear
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. chest — a box
  20. object — to protest
  21. bass — low music
  22. content — the amount
  23. object — a thing
  24. bat — for baseball

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