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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. row — a line
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. bound — obliged
  6. wind — moving air
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chip — to eat
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — happy
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bound — tied together
  15. content — the amount
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chip — for betting
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — certain
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. mouse — 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