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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cold — an illness
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. toast — bread
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. shower — to wash
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — not warm
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. pitch — completely
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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