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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: cold · ball · face · kid · bound · dip · bulb · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. tear — from crying
  4. face — to point toward
  5. ball — a dance
  6. bound — obliged
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. bulb — for light
  13. dip — to sink
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — child
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bulb — for light
  20. face — to confront
  21. bound — certain
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. ball — a great time
  24. tear — to rip

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