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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hand — help
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. spell — letters
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. spell — magic
  14. lean — to bend
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. lean — thin
  18. row — a line
  19. hand — in cards
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lean — to rest against

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