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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 120 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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. root — of a word
  5. root — of a plant
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chest — a box
  8. rule — government
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — rain
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. track — a song
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — to wash
  18. track — a path
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rule — a law
  22. track — to keep track
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. root — the cause

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