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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 120 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: prune · wave · chest · cold · rash · club · bowl · bass

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. rash — a series
  2. bass — the fish
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. rash — hasty
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for golf
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cold — an illness
  21. club — for dancing
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bass — low music
  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