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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: cold · saw · mouse · kid · pitch · cell · pop · net

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. saw — the tool
  6. net — after costs
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pop — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitch — completely
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. kid — child

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