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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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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: pit · wind · cold · bass · cell · last · kid · roll

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. roll — a list
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — final
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. kid — child
  10. last — to go on
  11. bass — the fish
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cell — a phone
  18. kid — to tease
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bass — low music
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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