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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: calf · spring · cold · stick · snap · game · can · pound

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. game — wild animals
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. spring — of water
  5. can — a tin
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spring — a coil
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pound — a weight
  15. snap — to click
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. spring — the season
  22. game — a match
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — for dogs

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