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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: hand · bass · pitcher · snap · coach · lean · rash · fall

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. snap — to click
  3. lean — thin
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fall — the season
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rash — a series
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — the fish
  16. rash — hasty
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fall — to drop
  20. lean — to bend
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. bass — low music
  24. pitcher — a jug

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