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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bark — to shout
  4. perch — the fish
  5. stem — to come from
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. shower — to wash
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. capital — money
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. sharp — clever
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. shower — rain
  23. capital — a city
  24. sharp — exactly

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