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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's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. mine — for digging
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. capital — money
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. root — of a word
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. lie — to recline
  16. season — in sport
  17. ground — crushed
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. root — the cause
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. root — of a plant
  24. chair — a leader

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