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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. rule — government
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. field — farmland
  15. capital — money
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. shower — rain
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. rule — a law
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mine — belonging to me

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