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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. fall — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. wake — a trail
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. ground — the earth
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ground — crushed
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ground — a position
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. calf — a young animal

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