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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: band · pit · fall · saw · cold · bat · lean · season

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. season — of the year
  3. bat — the animal
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. lean — thin
  9. fall — the season
  10. saw — the tool
  11. pit — in a race
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lean — to bend
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pit — a hole
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cold — not warm
  22. season — in sport
  23. fall — to drop
  24. band — a rubber band

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