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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: date · cold · rule · object · racket · calf · degree · straw

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. object — to protest
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. rule — a law
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rule — government
  10. cold — an illness
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. object — a thing
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. object — an aim
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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