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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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stem — to come from
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. fine — high quality
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fine — all right
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cell — in biology

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