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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chest — of your body
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. band — a ring
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. band — a music group
  13. fall — to drop
  14. lie — to recline
  15. chest — a box
  16. rest — what's left
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — a break
  23. fall — the season
  24. bat — for baseball

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