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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cue — a signal
  4. ball — a dance
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kid — child
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — to recline
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cue — a hint
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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