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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. cold — an illness
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. bound — certain
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bound — obliged
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. bound — tied together
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. land — ground
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. degree — an amount
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — to confront
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  24. face — to point toward

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