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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: bass · cold · chair · stand · bore · mine · trunk · fall

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chair — a leader
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. bore — to drill
  12. stand — to bear
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bass — the fish
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bore — gave birth

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