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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 124 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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. press — newspapers
  5. press — to push
  6. scale — in music
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. plane — a tool
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — size or range
  13. staff — a stick
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. staff — employees
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cold — not warm
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. staff — employees
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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