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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. prune — to trim
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. spring — a coil
  6. shower — rain
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. craft — a skill
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — to wash
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. spring — the season
  16. dip — to sink
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. craft — boats
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — the Cold War

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