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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 ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. leaves — of a tree
  2. content — the amount
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pit — in a race
  6. file — a document
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pit — a hole
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. file — a tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. land — ground
  15. chest — a box
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — happy
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. cold — not warm
  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