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

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spell — magic
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. spell — letters
  7. root — of a word
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spell — a short time
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. root — the cause
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. root — of a plant
  18. calf — a young animal

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