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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 · chest · spring · fan · scale · prune · track · straw

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bass — low music
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bass — the fish
  6. track — to keep track
  7. spring — of water
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. spring — the season
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — a box
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. scale — in music

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