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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · kid · fan · cold · tube · march · calf · arm

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. tube — a container
  5. cold — an illness
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kid — child
  15. march — the month
  16. kid — to tease
  17. march — the month
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. march — music
  24. fan — a supporter

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