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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. land — a country
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. track — to keep track
  6. land — ground
  7. pop — to visit
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bear — the animal
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pop — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — an illness
  15. track — a song
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. track — a path

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