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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. content — the amount
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. squash — the sport
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. race — humankind
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — the arms race
  12. squash — to crush
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. last — final
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cold — not warm
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. content — happy
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. last — to go on
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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