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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. kid — child
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. plane — a tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mate — a partner
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a document
  15. track — a path
  16. mate — to breed
  17. kid — to tease
  18. file — a line of people
  19. mate — a friend
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. track — to keep track
  24. track — a song

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