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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: pitcher · chair · deal · wave · snap · cold · wound · wind

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. chair — a leader
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — to handle
  9. snap — to click
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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