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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. squash — to crush
  3. spell — magic
  4. bound — certain
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. chest — of your body
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. squash — the sport
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bound — obliged
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. capital — money
  18. chest — of your body
  19. march — music
  20. bound — tied together
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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