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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bass — low music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. row — a line
  5. band — a ring
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. stand — to bear
  8. band — a music group
  9. mark — a grade
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. hand — help
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. rush — hurry
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. bass — the fish
  20. mark — a trace
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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