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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. can — to be able to
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pit — a hole
  7. file — a document
  8. clip — a video
  9. file — a tool
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. can — a tin
  14. cold — an illness
  15. can — a tin
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. dip — to sink
  19. pit — in a race
  20. clip — for paper
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — to cut
  23. perch — the fish
  24. calf — a young 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