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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. hand — help
  3. bass — low music
  4. suit — in cards
  5. hand — in cards
  6. craft — a skill
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. craft — boats
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — in music
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cold — not warm
  15. suit — to fit
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. tube — a container
  18. bass — the fish
  19. scale — size or range
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. tube — the underground
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. tube — in a tire

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