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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: date · ball · rest · kid · spell · game · cold · staff

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spell — letters
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. spell — a short time
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ball — a great time
  10. rest — what's left
  11. staff — employees
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. staff — employees
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. staff — a stick
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spell — magic
  24. date — the fruit

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