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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. field — a subject
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bear — the animal
  8. rule — a law
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. field — for sport
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. bear — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a tool

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