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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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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: mine · swing · calf · cold · bore · racket · nail · march

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bore — to tire
  3. swing — to play on
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bore — to drill
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cold — an illness
  12. swing — music
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. swing — in golf
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. racket — for tennis

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