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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — an illness
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. land — ground
  5. stem — to come from
  6. row — to paddle
  7. bound — certain
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rock — music
  15. land — to come down
  16. rock — a stone
  17. bound — obliged
  18. row — a line
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bound — tied together
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. land — a country
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. row — a quarrel

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