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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: hand · bowl · chair · bass · wind · kick · temple · bat

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — low music
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chair — a leader
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. hand — help
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wind — moving air
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. kick — a thrill

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