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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: bass · bat · fan · game · deal · swing · land · chest

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chest — a box
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. bass — low music
  5. land — ground
  6. game — a match
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. swing — music
  11. land — to come down
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chest — of your body
  21. deal — to handle
  22. swing — to play on
  23. land — a country
  24. fan — a supporter

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