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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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Word bank
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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: net · wave · cold · hide · deal · bat · scale · chest

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — for catching
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — size or range
  14. net — in sport
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. scale — in music
  21. net — after costs
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. deal — to handle
  24. hide — to keep secret

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