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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pop — music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pop — to visit
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. file — a tool
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. pop — soda
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. pitch — completely
  24. file — a document

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