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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. content — happy
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lean — thin
  9. face — to confront
  10. field — for sport
  11. lean — to bend
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. content — the amount
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. field — farmland
  18. scale — in music
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. field — a subject
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. scale — size or range
  24. fork — in a road

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