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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fine — all right
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bore — to drill
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bore — to tire
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. prune — to trim
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. calf — a young 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