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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: straw · wound · bass · patient · pit · cold · race · saw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pit — in a race
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pit — a hole
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bass — low music
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — the tool
  15. race — humankind
  16. wound — an injury
  17. race — the arms race
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bass — the fish
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. saw — the tool
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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