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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 had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. degree — temperature
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. bat — the animal
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cap — of ice
  24. degree — from a university

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