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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. object — an aim
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — for sport
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — goods
  14. object — a thing
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. field — farmland
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wind — moving air
  20. dip — to sink
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. field — a subject
  23. object — to protest
  24. cold — the Cold War

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