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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 120 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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. ground — crushed
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. ground — a position
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. deal — to handle
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ground — the earth
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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