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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. net — in sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. stem — to come from
  9. pass — a permit
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cold — an illness

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