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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. game — wild animals
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. sharp — clever
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. game — a match
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. land — ground
  13. deal — to handle
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. land — a country
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. cold — an illness
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — a trail

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