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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  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. racket — a loud noise
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. court — of law
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. hand — help
  9. court — of a king
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. spring — the season
  12. mine — for digging
  13. court — for sport
  14. last — finally
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. hand — in cards
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spring — of water
  20. chip — for betting
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. calf — a young animal
  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