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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 120 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. fine — high quality
  3. tube — a container
  4. fine — all right
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. scale — in music
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. tube — the underground

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