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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. present — a gift
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. present — there
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. march — music
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. present — the time now
  14. fine — high quality
  15. cold — not warm
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. file — a document
  21. cold — an illness
  22. file — a tool
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. file — a line of people

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