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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: branch · pass · bass · wind · chest · bat · bay · land

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bass — low music
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. land — ground
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. land — to come down
  15. chest — a box
  16. pass — a permit
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — a country
  20. chest — of your body
  21. branch — a division
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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