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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · leaves · kid · pop · mouse · spring · bat · saw

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. saw — the tool
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pop — soda
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pop — music
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — of water
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bat — the animal
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mouse — the animal

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