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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: pitcher · cold · mouse · mark · wound · squash · wind · present

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. squash — to crush
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. present — there
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. present — the time now
  13. squash — the sport
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mark — a grade
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mark — a trace
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. present — a gift
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — not warm

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