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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: leaves · wake · mug · chair · chest · land · field · bass

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. mug — to rob
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bass — the fish
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. chair — a leader
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. chest — of your body
  14. field — for sport
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bass — low music
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. mug — a face
  22. wake — a trail
  23. land — a country
  24. bass — the instrument

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