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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. snap — to click
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — to tease
  10. squash — to crush
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. chip — to eat
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — for betting
  20. squash — the sport
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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