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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 120 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 water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — to tease
  3. lie — to recline
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. snap — to click
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. kid — child
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. rock — a stone
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — a tool
  24. stock — shares

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