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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: bat · cold · stick · shower · suit · board · wind · calf

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. suit — to fit
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wind — moving air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. board — a committee
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. board — to get on
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. shower — rain
  23. suit — in cards
  24. bat — for baseball

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