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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. band — a ring
  7. fall — to drop
  8. staff — a stick
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. march — music
  16. staff — employees
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — an illness
  19. staff — employees
  20. bass — low music
  21. march — the month
  22. band — a music group
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — to keep secret

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