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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · calf · tube · spell · trunk · row · face · bat

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. face — to confront
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. row — a line
  5. tube — a container
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. face — to point toward
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tube — the underground
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. face — part of the head
  18. spell — magic
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bat — the animal

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