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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: kick · saw · fall · cold · arm · wake · band · season

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. season — of the year
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fall — to drop
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. saw — the tool
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. wake — a trail
  13. cold — not warm
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fall — to drop
  18. season — in sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. fall — the season
  21. kick — in football
  22. band — a music group
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. cold — an illness

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