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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 116 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. march — music
  4. row — to paddle
  5. shower — to wash
  6. march — the month
  7. drill — a practice
  8. press — newspapers
  9. sharp — clever
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. drill — army training
  14. cold — not warm
  15. drill — the tool
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — to push
  19. march — the month
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — a quarrel

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