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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 116 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 had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. last — final
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. last — to go on
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — the fish
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cell — in biology
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cold — not warm
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — in music
  24. last — finally

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