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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. spring — of water
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tube — a container
  7. chest — of your body
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. spring — a coil
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — a box
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spring — the season
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. shower — rain
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. object — a thing

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