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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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bat — the animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. tube — the underground
  13. object — to protest
  14. kid — child
  15. object — a thing
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. tube — a container
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. object — an aim
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — for digging
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. trunk — of a tree

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