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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: plane · bass · cold · land · press · chest · cell · wave

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. chest — a box
  4. bass — low music
  5. press — to push
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cold — not warm
  8. land — to come down
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. plane — a tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cold — an illness
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. bass — the fish
  19. land — a country
  20. press — a publisher
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. land — ground
  23. press — newspapers
  24. cold — the Cold War

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