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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. ground — a position
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. object — an aim
  8. spring — of water
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. spring — the season
  11. hand — in cards
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. hand — help
  14. branch — a division
  15. spring — a coil
  16. object — to protest
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. ground — crushed
  20. object — a thing
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. ground — the earth

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