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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cell — in biology
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. ground — the earth
  10. net — after costs
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. band — a music group
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. game — wild animals
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. band — a ring
  20. chair — a leader
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. ground — a position
  24. cell — a phone

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