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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 120 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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — an illness
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cold — not warm
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. board — a committee
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. race — humankind
  15. board — to get on
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wound — an injury
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — a contest
  20. dip — to sink
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kick — in football

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