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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. rest — a break
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cold — an illness
  6. land — to come down
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ball — a dance
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. ball — a great time
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — a country
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — ground
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rest — what's left
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. rash — a series
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — not warm

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