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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bass — low music
  5. file — a tool
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — an illness
  10. hand — help
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — for a computer

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