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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: kid · cold · scale · cabinet · game · face · bound · straw

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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. kid — child
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. bound — obliged
  7. kid — to tease
  8. scale — in music
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. face — to confront
  11. game — wild animals
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — certain
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. face — part of the head
  18. game — a match
  19. bound — tied together
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. scale — size or range

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