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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — in football
  8. squash — to crush
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bass — the fish
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. roll — a list
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bass — low music
  15. roll — a cake
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. roll — on a roll

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