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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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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: chest · drill · perch · mouse · bass · cold · arm · root

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. chest — a box
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. perch — the fish
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — of a plant
  11. drill — a practice
  12. chest — of your body
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. root — of a word
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chest — of your body
  21. root — the cause
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. drill — army training
  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