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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 · fan · cap · arm · bass · perch · date

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cap — of ice
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. perch — the fish
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bass — low music
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. date — the fruit
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — a lid
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — an illness
  24. arm — a part of something

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