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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — of water
  6. rock — music
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. spring — the season
  9. pop — soda
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stand — to bear
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rock — a stone
  16. wind — moving air
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pop — music
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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