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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: pound · lean · game · bass · bat · chest · saw · charge

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. charge — electricity
  3. saw — the tool
  4. charge — in control
  5. game — a match
  6. pound — a weight
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chest — a box
  9. charge — a price
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. lean — to bend
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bass — low music
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. saw — the tool
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lean — thin
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bat — the animal

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