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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 124 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pop — to visit
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pop — music
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. pop — soda
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pound — a weight
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. calf — a young 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