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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 124 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cap — of ice
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. spring — of water
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. hand — help
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cell — a phone
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cap — a hat
  16. stand — to bear
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. spring — the season
  21. cap — a lid
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. cell — in biology
  24. branch — a division

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