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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. tube — a container
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. bulb — for light
  15. spell — magic
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — letters
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cold — an illness
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bulb — for light

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