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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. row — a line
  7. bass — the fish
  8. present — a gift
  9. spring — the season
  10. present — there
  11. bass — low music
  12. row — to paddle
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — child
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. present — the time now
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. spring — of water

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