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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. file — a tool
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. season — in sport
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a music group
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — in football
  13. stock — shares
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — an illness
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — not warm
  19. file — a document
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. band — a ring
  22. stock — goods
  23. season — of the year
  24. mouse — the animal

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