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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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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 · rest · club · cold · branch · band · ball · cabinet

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. kid — child
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. branch — a division
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rest — a break
  12. club — a group
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ball — a dance
  16. rest — what's left
  17. club — for golf
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. ball — a great time
  21. band — a ring
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rest — what's left

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