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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 116 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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. object — to protest
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — a publisher
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. rush — hurry
  16. object — a thing
  17. band — a ring
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. press — to push
  20. object — an aim
  21. squash — to crush
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. press — newspapers

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