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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stem — to come from
  4. race — a contest
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cap — a lid
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. branch — a division
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — humankind
  13. cap — of ice
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. swing — to play on
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. race — the arms race
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. stem — of a plant

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