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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. fall — the season
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — money
  9. face — part of the head
  10. fall — to drop
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — an illness
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. chest — a box
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — after costs
  19. chest — of your body
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. net — in sport
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — to point toward
  24. chest — of your body

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