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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: plane · bass · hide · chest · sharp · kid · ground · nail

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — the fish
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. kid — child
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bass — low music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. sharp — clever
  9. chest — a box
  10. kid — to tease
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. ground — the earth
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. plane — a tool
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — a position
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. chest — of your body
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. plane — in geometry

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