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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. track — a song
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. track — a path
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cell — a phone
  14. plane — a tool
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hand — help
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cell — in biology
  24. track — to keep track

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