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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing 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. spring — of water
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spring — the season
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — a coil
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. field — for sport
  12. file — a document
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. hand — help
  15. field — a subject
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — farmland

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