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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pop — music
  9. shower — rain
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pop — soda
  14. shower — to wash
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cold — an illness
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. pop — to visit
  24. bat — in an idiom

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