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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: bound · band · stand · fall · bass · rash · chest · bat

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. rash — a series
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bound — obliged
  8. rash — hasty
  9. stand — to bear
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bound — certain
  12. band — a ring
  13. fall — the season
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. bass — the fish
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. bound — tied together
  23. band — a music group
  24. chest — a box

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