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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — not warm
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bore — to tire
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cap — a lid
  16. kid — child
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cap — of ice
  24. wound — an injury

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