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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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Word bank
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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: march · perch · cold · mine · calf · rock · pit · cue

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. march — the month
  5. pit — in a race
  6. perch — the fish
  7. cue — a hint
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rock — music
  10. cue — a signal
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. march — the month
  14. pit — a hole
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cue — for pool
  18. rock — a stone
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. march — music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. mine — for digging

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