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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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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 · mine · hand · chair · calf · lie · ruler · pit

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. hand — help
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. cold — not warm
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pit — a hole
  11. mine — for digging
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. pit — in a race
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chair — a leader
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. lie — to recline
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hand — in cards

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