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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · stand · bat · calf · race · cold

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — a contest
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. bat — the animal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stand — to bear
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — humankind
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. deal — to handle
  18. calf — of the leg

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