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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. fork — in a road
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a great time
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mark — a trace
  12. drill — army training
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cell — in biology
  17. drill — a practice
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. mark — a grade
  20. ball — a dance
  21. cell — a phone
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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