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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. craft — a skill
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. face — to point toward
  8. file — a tool
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. face — part of the head
  12. craft — boats
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to confront
  16. bark — to shout
  17. file — a document
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a line of people
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bark — of a tree

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