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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. cap — a lid
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. content — the amount
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pitch — completely
  15. land — ground
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. land — to come down
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. cap — of ice
  22. land — a country
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — happy

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