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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: wound · straw · object · chair · kid · bat · bass · cell

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. object — an aim
  3. bass — low music
  4. object — a thing
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cell — a phone
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cell — in biology
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wound — an injury
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. object — to protest
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chair — to sit on

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