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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. field — a subject
  3. cold — an illness
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. field — farmland
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. scale — size or range
  11. field — for sport
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cold — not warm
  18. hide — animal skin

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