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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 · land · hand · stand · chest · tear · lean · wave

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. bass — low music
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. chest — a box
  7. bass — the fish
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — thin
  12. land — to come down
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. land — ground
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. tear — to rip
  23. lean — to bend
  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