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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chest — of your body
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. track — a song
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. track — to keep track
  7. kid — child
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chest — a box
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rest — what's left
  15. track — a path
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. drill — the tool
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. drill — army training

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