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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 · kid · safe · kick · bowl · wind · wound · date

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wound — an injury
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kick — in football
  13. kid — to tease
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. date — the fruit
  24. kid — child

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