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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. staff — a stick
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. club — for golf
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spring — the season
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. club — a group
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. cold — an illness
  15. deal — to handle
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spring — of water
  18. staff — employees
  19. staff — employees
  20. spring — a coil
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — not warm
  23. club — for dancing
  24. clip — to cut

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