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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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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: cell · chest · bat · club · pound · wind · bass · key

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. pound — to hit hard
  2. wind — moving air
  3. club — for golf
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. key — in music
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chest — a box
  8. pound — a weight
  9. club — a group
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bass — the fish
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. key — the most important part
  18. bat — the animal
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. key — for a lock
  22. bass — low music
  23. bat — for baseball
  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