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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: cabinet · deal · last · ground · kid · cue · cold · saw

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. ground — a position
  6. last — final
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. cue — for pool
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. last — to go on
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — crushed
  15. last — finally
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kid — child
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cue — a hint
  20. ground — the earth
  21. kid — to tease
  22. saw — the tool
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — a big deal

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