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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. drill — a practice
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bear — the animal
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wind — moving air
  8. squash — to crush
  9. drill — the tool
  10. squash — the sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. race — a contest
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. drill — army training
  24. calf — a young animal

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