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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 a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. roll — a list
  3. game — a match
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bank — for money
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. dip — to sink
  13. date — the fruit
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bank — of a river
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kid — to tease
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — child
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. bank — for money
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. cold — not warm

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