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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. dip — to sink
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — music
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chest — a box
  16. season — of the year
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. season — in sport
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. field — for sport
  24. dip — to dunk

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