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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: lean · last · degree · calf · race · court · cold · bear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lean — to bend
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. last — final
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — finally
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. race — the arms race
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — humankind
  15. lean — thin
  16. court — of law
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. court — of a king
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — to go on
  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