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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pound — a weight
  5. ball — a great time
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pop — music
  8. lie — to recline
  9. kid — child
  10. hand — in cards
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. pop — soda
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pop — to visit
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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