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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — for betting
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — a weight
  7. degree — from a university
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — an amount
  11. ground — the earth
  12. degree — temperature
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. race — humankind
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. race — a contest
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. ground — a position
  19. kid — child
  20. chip — to eat
  21. race — the arms race
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. ground — crushed

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