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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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. tube — the underground
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a match
  5. land — ground
  6. prune — to trim
  7. land — a country
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. face — to point toward
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. land — to come down
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. game — wild animals
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tube — a container
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to confront
  24. kid — child

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