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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: deal · cold · ball · content · nail · date · wave · rest

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. rest — what's left
  13. ball — a dance
  14. date — the fruit
  15. rest — a break
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. rest — what's left
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. content — the amount

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