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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. field — for sport
  3. bank — of a river
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. shower — to wash
  8. tube — the underground
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bank — for money
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. shower — rain
  15. tube — a container
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — farmland
  18. bank — for money
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — not warm
  21. field — a subject
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. lie — an untruth

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