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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: chest · calf · cap · cold · ruler · field · kid · row

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cap — of ice
  3. kid — to tease
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. field — farmland
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. row — to paddle
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chest — a box
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — for sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kid — child
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — not warm

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