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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: pop · mouse · season · wound · cold · date · row · fan

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. wound — an injury
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pop — to visit
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — an injury
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. row — a line
  11. pop — music
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. row — to paddle
  16. date — the fruit
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. season — in sport
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — not warm
  24. date — on the calendar

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