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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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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 · bowl · kid · chest · cap · bear · ball · snap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cap — a hat
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cap — a lid
  11. kid — child
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bear — the animal
  16. chest — a box
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. ball — a great time
  21. kid — to tease
  22. chest — of your body
  23. snap — to click
  24. ball — a dance

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