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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. face — part of the head
  3. last — final
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — wild animals
  11. rash — a series
  12. last — to go on
  13. content — the amount
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. game — a match
  18. face — to confront
  19. content — happy
  20. last — finally
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. face — to point toward
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. game — a kind of play

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