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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. object — to protest
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. mine — for digging
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. ground — a position
  17. object — a thing
  18. bass — the fish
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. object — an aim
  24. calf — of the leg

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