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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: wound · rest · wind · bat · bass · cabinet · temple · chest

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rest — what's left
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bass — low music
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. rest — what's left
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. rest — a break
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bat — the animal

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