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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: bass · suit · cold · wound · field · wave · kick · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. suit — clothes
  5. field — a subject
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bass — the fish
  16. suit — in cards
  17. suit — to fit
  18. field — farmland
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. wound — an injury
  22. field — for sport
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. bass — low music

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