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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 120 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: rush · cold · rash · cabinet · kid · racket · wind · bass

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — low music
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. rash — a series
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kid — child
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. bass — the instrument

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