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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 116 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. pop — soda
  4. spell — letters
  5. rash — hasty
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pass — a permit
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a ring
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. pop — music
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. rash — a series
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. spell — magic

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