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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: straw · season · cue · cold · tear · bass · tube · chest

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. chest — a box
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cold — an illness
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tear — to rip
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. tear — from crying
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cue — a hint
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. tube — a container
  19. bass — low music
  20. cue — for pool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. season — of the year
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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