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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: kid · season · cold · lean · pitcher · lie · wind · band

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. band — a music group
  12. kid — child
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. band — a ring
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lean — to bend
  18. season — of the year
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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