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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. spell — letters
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. current — of water
  6. band — a ring
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — low music
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spell — magic
  15. cap — of ice
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. current — electric
  18. snap — to click
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bass — the fish
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. current — happening now
  23. spell — a short time
  24. band — a music group

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