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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: mouse · lie · coach · degree · wind · cold · snap · bass

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bass — low music
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. cold — an illness
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. degree — from a university
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. snap — to click
  19. bass — the fish
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. degree — temperature
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — a trainer

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