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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: drill · dip · squash · kid · pop · cap · cold · fine

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cold — an illness
  5. drill — a practice
  6. squash — the sport
  7. dip — to sink
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fine — high quality
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pop — soda
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pop — music
  19. cap — a hat
  20. fine — all right
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. drill — army training

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