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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wake — a trail
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hand — in cards
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. present — there
  9. degree — an amount
  10. present — the time now
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. present — a gift
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. shower — rain
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cold — not warm
  24. hand — help

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