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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 116 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: cold · root · perch · nail · rule · trunk · last · calf

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. last — to go on
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — a law
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. root — of a word
  8. last — finally
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cold — not warm
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — final
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. root — the cause
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rule — government
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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