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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: ball · stand · pop · spring · kid · dip · chest · bass

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. dip — to sink
  3. bass — low music
  4. pop — music
  5. stand — to bear
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chest — a box
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pop — to visit
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a dance
  15. kid — child
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. ball — a great time
  18. spring — of water
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pop — soda
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bass — the fish

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