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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: cold · file · bass · calf · bulb · fall · pitcher · saw

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bulb — for light
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bulb — for light
  10. fall — to drop
  11. file — a tool
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bass — low music
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fall — the season
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. saw — the tool
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. file — a document
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. calf — a young animal

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