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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: cell · cold · wind · mug · field · calf · present · pound

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — for sport
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — a cup
  12. mug — to rob
  13. mug — a face
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pound — a weight
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. present — the time now
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. present — a gift
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. calf — a young animal

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