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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: pitcher · bass · tube · cold · fall · cell · pound · wound

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fall — the season
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. tube — a container
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cell — a phone
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bass — the fish

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