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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 116 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: stand · snap · last · mate · cold · bass · net · wind

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. net — in sport
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. stand — to bear
  7. mate — a friend
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bass — low music
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — to go on
  15. net — for catching
  16. snap — to click
  17. last — finally
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mate — a partner
  20. net — after costs
  21. last — final
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — the fish
  24. stand — on your feet

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