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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. chest — a box
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. root — the cause
  11. game — a match
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. root — of a plant
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. firm — a company
  17. root — of a word
  18. firm — decided
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. firm — steady
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fan — a supporter

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