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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: toast · rash · cold · mark · clip · last · calf · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. last — to go on
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — for paper
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. rash — a series
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. toast — bread
  11. clip — a video
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — finally
  18. rash — hasty
  19. last — final
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mark — a grade

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