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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cell — in biology
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — in golf
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — a phone
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. swing — music
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. nail — for a hammer

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