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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: game · fine · season · roll · race · shower · calf · cold

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. race — a contest
  6. game — a match
  7. season — in sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. race — humankind
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — rain
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. roll — a cake
  24. shower — to wash

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