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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: deal · chair · cue · bat · lean · bass · cold · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cue — for pool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cue — a signal
  9. bass — low music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lean — thin
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. cue — a hint
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. lean — to bend
  21. chair — a leader
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — an agreement

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