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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: pit · straw · bat · roll · bank · mark · chest · bass

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. mark — a grade
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pit — a hole
  9. roll — a cake
  10. chest — of your body
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bat — the animal
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a trace
  19. chest — a box
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. pit — in a race

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