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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 · spell · rush · stick · fall · pitcher · tube

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. spell — magic
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. spell — letters
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spell — a short time
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. fall — the season

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