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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 116 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: straw · wake · season · bass · rush · cold · cue · fall

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bass — low music
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. fall — to drop
  9. season — in sport
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bass — the fish
  12. rush — hurry
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cue — for pool
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cue — a signal
  24. fall — the season

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