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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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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: jam · nail · plane · rash · wound · bat · last · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rash — a series
  4. plane — a tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — hasty
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. last — final
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wound — an injury
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. last — finally
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. last — to go on
  24. plane — an aircraft

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