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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. band — a music group
  3. wound — an injury
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — to tease
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. foot — a measure
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. game — wild animals
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. kid — child
  17. band — a ring
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. game — a match
  24. foot — part of the body

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