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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 120 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: cold · mine · row · key · wind · bark · calf · pass

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bark — to shout
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. key — the most important part
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. key — in music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. key — for a lock
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. mine — for digging
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pass — a permit

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