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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.

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: mouse · scale · wind · field · cold · calf · pop · march

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wind — moving air
  9. march — the month
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — farmland
  12. pop — music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. march — music
  17. field — for sport
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. scale — in music
  20. field — a subject
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. pop — soda
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. scale — size or range

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