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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 a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. object — an aim
  12. chest — a box
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. tear — to rip
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. object — to protest
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. prune — to trim
  24. object — a thing

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