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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bore — to drill
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. spring — a coil
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bore — to tire
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. ball — a great time
  16. spring — the season
  17. cold — not warm
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — of water
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. temple — side of the head

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