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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. hand — help
  5. spring — of water
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. branch — a division
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. file — a line of people
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. calf — of the leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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