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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. squash — the sport
  3. field — for sport
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. rule — government
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rule — a law
  9. scale — size or range
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. scale — in music
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mine — for digging
  20. field — farmland
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — not warm
  24. field — a subject

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