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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — a trail
  8. scale — in music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. field — a subject
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — child
  18. scale — size or range
  19. field — for sport
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bear — the 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