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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pound — a weight
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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