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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cap — of ice
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bass — low music
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. cap — a hat
  10. chest — a box
  11. bass — the fish
  12. court — for sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — a lid
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — of law
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stem — to come from
  24. racket — for tennis

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