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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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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: stick · fork · arm · roll · cold · kid · calf · dip

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. roll — a cake
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. dip — to sink
  12. kid — to tease
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. kid — child
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. fork — in a road
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. roll — a list
  24. cold — the Cold War

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