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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 120 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 had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. march — music
  4. track — to keep track
  5. march — the month
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. march — the month
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wind — moving air
  12. dip — to sink
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. row — a line
  15. tube — a container
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tube — the underground
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wind — moving air

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