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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: net · bass · chest · track · hand · wound · trunk · straw

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bass — the fish
  4. wound — an injury
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. track — a path
  8. net — for catching
  9. chest — of your body
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bass — low music
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — an injury
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — a box
  19. hand — in cards
  20. track — a song
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. hand — help
  23. net — after costs
  24. trunk — of a tree

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