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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. race — a contest
  5. spell — magic
  6. rest — what's left
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. capital — a city
  14. race — humankind
  15. hand — in cards
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. mug — a cup
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spell — letters
  20. mug — a face
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mug — to rob
  24. capital — money

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