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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 120 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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. band — a music group
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pit — in a race
  7. chest — a box
  8. pop — music
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. ball — a great time
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ball — a dance
  21. squash — the sport
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — soda

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