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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — rain
  10. court — of a king
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. spell — magic
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wind — moving air
  17. court — of law
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wind — moving air

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