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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: bass · kid · perch · race · mark · chest · trunk · capital

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mark — a trace
  7. perch — the fish
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. race — humankind
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bass — low music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bass — the fish
  22. race — the arms race
  23. mark — a grade
  24. race — a contest

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