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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. object — an aim
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. cold — not warm
  9. object — to protest
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. kid — to tease
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. deal — to handle
  16. shower — rain
  17. bass — low music
  18. object — a thing
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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