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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. fall — to drop
  4. spring — the season
  5. fall — the season
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pop — to visit
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — clever
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to tire
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. spring — of water
  16. pop — soda
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pop — music
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bore — to drill

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