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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · squash · present · cap · chair · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. present — a gift
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cap — a hat
  14. present — there
  15. present — the time now
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cold — the Cold War

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