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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pound — a weight
  4. march — the month
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. march — the month
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cap — a hat
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cap — of ice
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — the fish
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a lid
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. march — music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. nail — for a hammer

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