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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 · season · snap · bear · mouse · fall · net · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. net — in sport
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fall — the season
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bear — the animal
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. net — after costs
  20. bear — the animal
  21. snap — to click
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. net — for catching

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