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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. mine — for digging
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cold — not warm
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — a short time
  17. race — the arms race
  18. spell — letters
  19. roll — a list
  20. ball — a great time
  21. spell — magic
  22. ball — a dance
  23. calf — a young animal
  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