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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: wound · ruler · root · straw · calf · cold · content · march

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  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. ruler — a monarch
  2. cold — an illness
  3. root — of a plant
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. root — the cause
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. march — the month
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — not warm
  20. content — happy
  21. march — music
  22. root — of a word
  23. content — the amount
  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