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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. last — final
  6. face — to point toward
  7. face — part of the head
  8. band — a ring
  9. face — to confront
  10. cold — not warm
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. last — to go on
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. last — finally
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. band — a music group
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. bat — the animal

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