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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  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. scale — in music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. swing — in golf
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. ground — crushed
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bore — to drill
  10. scale — size or range
  11. ground — a position
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. swing — music
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. fork — in a road
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bore — to tire
  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