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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: kid · fall · rest · bear · ball · wind · face · cold

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kid — child
  3. rest — what's left
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. face — to confront
  10. kid — to tease
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — part of the head
  19. fall — the season
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rest — a break

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