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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. stand — to bear
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. fall — to drop
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. field — farmland
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cold — an illness
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wind — moving air
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. racket — for tennis

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