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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. present — the time now
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mate — to breed
  8. present — a gift
  9. ground — a position
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cold — an illness
  12. present — there
  13. race — a contest
  14. mate — a friend
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mate — a partner
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ground — crushed
  22. race — humankind
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. ground — the earth

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