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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: bulb · game · bass · chest · hand · cell · swing · ball

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bass — low music
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bulb — for light
  5. game — a match
  6. ball — a dance
  7. swing — to play on
  8. bass — the fish
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ball — a great time
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cell — in biology
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — help
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. swing — music
  24. bass — the instrument

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