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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 giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. last — to go on
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. fall — to drop
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. club — for dancing
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. club — for golf
  9. stock — goods
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. content — happy
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — an illness
  19. last — final
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. last — finally
  23. club — a group
  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