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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — an illness
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — wild animals
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. cold — not warm
  9. last — to go on
  10. pop — music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. pop — to visit
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. game — a match
  16. pop — soda
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. last — final
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. calf — a young animal

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