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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. club — for golf
  5. current — happening now
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — a position
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. club — a group
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. current — electric
  14. ground — the earth
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. tear — to rip
  17. club — for dancing
  18. spring — a coil
  19. tear — from crying
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. spring — of water
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — crushed
  24. current — 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