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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. face — part of the head
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. ball — a dance
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. land — to come down
  17. face — to point toward
  18. land — ground
  19. rock — a stone
  20. land — a country
  21. rock — music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fork — in a road

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