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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 protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. court — for sport
  3. sharp — clever
  4. court — of law
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bass — the fish
  11. degree — from a university
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. wound — an injury
  16. court — of a king
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bass — low music
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. degree — temperature
  24. shower — rain

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