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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: cold · lash · cell · field · net · bore · kick · calf

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. bore — to tire
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — in biology
  6. field — a subject
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. bore — to drill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. field — for sport
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. cell — a phone
  15. net — in sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. field — farmland
  23. kick — in football
  24. lash — an eyelash

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