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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: chest · lean · cell · wake · bass · rule · pit · ground

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the fish
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — a position
  7. rule — a law
  8. ground — the earth
  9. lean — to bend
  10. chest — a box
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — thin
  14. cell — a phone
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pit — a hole
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. wake — a trail
  23. rule — government
  24. chest — of your body

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