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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: jam · hand · perch · ground · roll · coach · bass · chest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. chest — a box
  3. roll — a list
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. roll — a cake
  7. chest — of your body
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ground — crushed
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bass — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ground — a position
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. ground — the earth
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. perch — the fish
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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