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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chair — a leader
  3. staff — employees
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. staff — employees
  7. squash — the sport
  8. fall — to drop
  9. staff — a stick
  10. fall — the season
  11. race — the arms race
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. fall — to drop
  17. degree — an amount
  18. race — a contest
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. race — humankind
  24. calf — of the leg

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