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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 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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. roll — a cake
  3. kid — child
  4. bass — low music
  5. band — a music group
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cap — of ice
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cap — a hat
  10. roll — a list
  11. tube — a container
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bass — the fish
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — an illness
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a ring

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