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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. game — wild animals
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cap — a lid
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hand — help
  14. game — a match
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. 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