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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 120 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: bass · squash · coach · band · chest · mine · prune · mug

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bass — low music
  5. mug — to rob
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mug — a cup
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bass — the fish
  12. chest — a box
  13. mug — a face
  14. band — a ring
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. mine — for digging
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. squash — to crush
  21. chest — of your body
  22. squash — the sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. band — a music group

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