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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. land — ground
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. row — a line
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cue — for pool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cue — a signal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. land — a country
  18. craft — a skill
  19. land — to come down
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. calf — of the leg

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