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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — an illness
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. perch — the fish
  10. field — farmland
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. field — for sport
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bulb — for light
  23. field — a subject
  24. calf — a young animal

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