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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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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. hand — help
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — child
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. staff — employees
  10. wound — an injury
  11. staff — a stick
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hand — in cards
  14. staff — employees
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the instrument

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