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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pound — a weight
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. track — to keep track
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. last — to go on
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. present — there
  10. present — the time now
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — to push
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. last — final
  17. cold — an illness
  18. press — newspapers
  19. last — finally
  20. track — a song
  21. dip — to sink
  22. cold — not warm
  23. press — a publisher
  24. present — a gift

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