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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. hand — help
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. object — an aim
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. race — the arms race
  12. tube — a container
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. object — to protest
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. race — a contest
  17. face — to confront
  18. object — a thing
  19. bat — the animal
  20. face — to point toward
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. face — part of the head
  23. race — humankind
  24. tube — the underground

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