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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. plane — a tool
  4. cold — not warm
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. race — the arms race
  11. squash — to crush
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — to shout
  16. chest — of your body
  17. sharp — clever
  18. race — a contest
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. race — humankind
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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