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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. land — ground
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. tear — to rip
  6. swing — to play on
  7. land — to come down
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. land — a country
  10. swing — in golf
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. rush — hurry
  13. swing — music
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — a subject
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — farmland
  19. row — to paddle
  20. field — for sport
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. row — a line
  24. fan — to cool the 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