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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chair — a leader
  3. club — a group
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chest — a box
  13. club — for golf
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. club — for dancing
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. calf — a young animal

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