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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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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: hide · cold · fine · bass · kick · bat · date · fall

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fine — high quality
  7. bass — low music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. kick — in football
  19. fine — all right
  20. date — the fruit
  21. bat — the animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fall — the season
  24. date — on the calendar

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