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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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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: fall · cold · board · bulb · lie · kid · game · racket

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. board — a committee
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kid — to tease
  8. board — to get on
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. lie — to recline
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bulb — for light
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. bulb — for light
  19. game — a match
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. kid — child

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