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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · craft · row · cold · chest · mouse · rush · wound

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wound — an injury
  8. row — a line
  9. pop — to visit
  10. rush — hurry
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. row — to paddle
  15. craft — boats
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. craft — a skill
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. chest — of your body

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