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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 124 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 water is too ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — rain
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. shower — to wash
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. drill — the tool
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. drill — army training
  18. capital — a city
  19. plane — a tool
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. capital — money
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. lean — thin

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