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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. scale — in music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cap — a lid
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cap — a hat
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cap — of ice
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pound — a weight
  23. branch — a division
  24. scale — for weighing

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