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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cue — for pool
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. cue — a hint
  5. season — in sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. cold — an illness
  8. stem — to come from
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cue — a signal
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. spring — of water
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. season — of the year
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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