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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: race · wound · bass · chair · rock · chest · cabinet · fall

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. rock — a stone
  5. chest — a box
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rock — music
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. bass — the fish
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. fall — the season
  19. bass — low music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. race — humankind
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rock — to move gently

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