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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · bowl · kid · chest · cap · bear

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chest — a box
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. kid — child
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cap — a lid

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