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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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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: sharp · game · bass · straw · bay · chest · swing · tear

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. sharp — clever
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chest — a box
  11. swing — music
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. game — a match
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. tear — to rip
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. swing — in golf
  23. chest — of your body
  24. swing — to play on

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