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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 124 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. rush — hurry
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — a phone
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pop — music
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. mine — for digging
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. march — music
  15. wind — moving air
  16. plane — a tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. pop — to visit
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cell — in biology
  23. march — the month
  24. wind — to turn a key

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