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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bass · object · cold · kid · straw · leaves · land

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — hurry
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bass — low music
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — an aim
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. kid — child
  16. bass — the fish
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. object — to protest
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. land — ground

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