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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. fine — all right
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pitch — completely
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bear — the 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