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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — the cause
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cold — an illness
  13. season — of the year
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. rash — hasty
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. season — in sport
  20. rash — a series
  21. root — of a word
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pit — in a race
  24. season — to add flavour

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