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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: wound · band · cold · calf · wave · bore · lash · snap

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. band — a music group
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. snap — to click
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bore — to drill
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. calf — a young 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