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

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. object — a thing
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — a coil
  7. shower — rain
  8. cold — not warm
  9. present — the time now
  10. spring — of water
  11. tear — from crying
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. object — to protest
  14. rest — what's left
  15. present — there
  16. shower — to wash
  17. spring — the season
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. object — an aim
  23. rest — a break
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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