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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. prune — to trim
  3. dip — to sink
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cold — an illness
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. cell — a phone
  24. file — a line of people

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