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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 bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kick — in football
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. file — a tool
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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