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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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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: wave · cold · jam · scale · tube · hand · season · saw

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. season — of the year
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — the underground
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. scale — in music
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. saw — the tool
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. season — in sport
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. tube — a container
  24. cold — the Cold War

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