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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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468
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: kid · hand · racket · mark · cold · saw · bass · face

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kid — child
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bass — low music
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kid — to tease
  11. face — to point toward
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to confront
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mark — a trace
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cold — the Cold War

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