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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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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: wound · cold · scale · plane · bore · wake · stand · bass

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  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. bore — to tire
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. scale — size or range
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. scale — in music
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stand — to bear
  21. bore — to drill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wake — a trail
  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