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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 116 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. land — ground
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. land — to come down
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. bore — to tire
  9. dip — to sink
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bore — to drill
  16. chip — for betting
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cell — in biology
  24. land — a country

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