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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rash — a series
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — a short time
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. chest — a box
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wax — to grow
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. content — the amount
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. content — happy
  24. stem — of a plant

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