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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 · wave · lie · branch · net · kick · temple · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. net — after costs
  9. branch — a division
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — to recline
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — child
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — for catching

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