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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — in football
  4. scale — in music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bass — the fish
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. file — a tool
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. file — a line of people
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bass — low music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cold — not warm
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wind — moving air

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