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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. staff — a stick
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. content — happy
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. staff — employees
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. cold — an illness
  15. staff — employees
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. march — music
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. content — the amount
  20. march — the month
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

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