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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 116 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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kid — child
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. squash — the sport
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. rash — a series
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — to crush
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ball — a dance
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. rash — hasty
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. ball — a great time
  21. bark — to shout
  22. snap — to click
  23. mark — a grade
  24. cold — an illness

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