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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cell — a phone
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cell — in biology
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. last — to go on
  22. scale — size or range
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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