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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — to come down
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. bass — the fish
  5. land — a country
  6. chest — of your body
  7. roll — a cake
  8. ground — the earth
  9. root — of a plant
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. face — to confront
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. face — to point toward
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. chest — of your body
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — the cause
  20. land — ground
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — crushed
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bass — low music

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