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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. root — the cause
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. pop — soda
  10. root — of a word
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pop — to visit
  18. clip — a video
  19. can — to be able to
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. root — of a plant
  23. pop — music
  24. clip — for paper

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