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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. march — the month
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — an amount
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fine — high quality
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — temperature
  22. march — music
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. row — a line

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