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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cell — a phone
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. shower — rain
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bear — the animal
  7. sharp — clever
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. cell — in biology
  15. file — a tool
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. file — a document
  18. shower — to wash
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bear — the animal
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. calf — of the leg

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