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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 116 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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitch — completely
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bass — the fish
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bass — low music
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stem — to come from
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — child
  23. snap — to click
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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