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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. track — a song
  3. race — a contest
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. court — of a king
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. game — a match
  12. race — humankind
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. court — of law
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — an illness
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. court — for sport
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cold — not warm
  24. race — the arms race

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