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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: ground · bay · squash · chip · calf · cold · shower · cell

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — an illness
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the sport
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. ground — a position
  14. shower — rain
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — not warm
  17. squash — to crush
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cell — a phone

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