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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — to go on
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. last — final
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wound — an injury
  12. last — finally
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. calf — of the leg

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