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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. track — a song
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bear — the animal
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. track — to keep track
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. track — a path
  14. clip — a video
  15. fine — all right
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. clip — to cut
  18. game — a match
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. fine — high quality
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bear — the animal

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