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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. staff — employees
  4. kid — to tease
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. band — a ring
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. band — a music group
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. staff — a stick
  18. shower — rain
  19. bore — to tire
  20. march — music
  21. kid — child
  22. march — the month
  23. staff — employees
  24. march — the month

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