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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mate — a friend
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. firm — a company
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mate — a partner
  11. degree — temperature
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mine — for digging
  15. firm — decided
  16. chest — of your body
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. chest — a box
  19. kid — child
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. firm — steady
  22. degree — an amount
  23. date — the fruit
  24. kid — to tease

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