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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 116 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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Word bank
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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 · lie · ball · kid · dip · court

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lie — to recline
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — child
  12. dip — to sink
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ball — a great time
  17. court — for sport
  18. lie — an untruth

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