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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. craft — boats
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. craft — a skill
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. land — a country
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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