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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 116 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: tube · pop · tear · cold · pass · calf · rush · row

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. pop — soda
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tube — a container
  9. rush — hurry
  10. pop — to visit
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pop — music
  15. tear — to rip
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pass — a permit
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. calf — of the leg

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