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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. saw — the tool
  3. club — for golf
  4. net — for catching
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pitch — completely
  9. file — a document
  10. club — a group
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stem — to come from
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. club — for dancing
  22. net — after costs
  23. file — a tool
  24. pitch — a sports field

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