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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 120 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: cabinet · calf · cold · chip · stick · squash · hide · row

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. squash — the sport
  8. row — to paddle
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. row — a line
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. squash — to crush
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. chip — for betting
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — not warm
  24. calf — of the leg

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