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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 120 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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. net — for catching
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. net — in sport
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. chip — to eat
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chest — of your body
  12. net — after costs
  13. chest — of your body
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. prune — to trim
  18. content — happy
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. prune — to trim
  21. chest — a box
  22. content — the amount
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. chip — for betting

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