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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: race · hand · leaves · bass · cold · chest · season · saw

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — the arms race
  6. chest — of your body
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. season — in sport
  9. hand — help
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — the tool
  19. race — a contest
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. bass — low music
  22. bass — the fish
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. race — humankind

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