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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 120 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: cold · saw · chest · wind · mate · kid · can · stem

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. can — a tin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mate — to breed
  9. can — to be able to
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. can — a tin
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — a partner
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — not warm

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