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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pit — a hole
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bulb — for light
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bulb — for light
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. file — a document
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pit — in a race
  24. fork — in a road

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