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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. spring — of water
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. board — a committee
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. spring — the season
  15. branch — a division
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. shower — rain
  19. spring — a coil
  20. perch — the fish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. shower — to wash

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