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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: race · calf · cold · wind · bass · jam · straw · pit

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. bass — low music
  8. pit — a hole
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bass — the fish
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — humankind
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. wind — moving air

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