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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cap — a lid
  7. track — a path
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. track — a song
  10. chest — of your body
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. last — to go on
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cap — a hat
  16. branch — a division
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cue — for pool
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chest — a box
  24. scale — in music

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