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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: pitcher · band · cell · club · bass · cold · net · wind

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cell — in biology
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bass — the fish
  5. club — for golf
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — not warm
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bass — low music
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. net — for catching
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. club — for dancing
  16. club — a group
  17. net — in sport
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. net — after costs
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cell — a phone

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