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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. spring — the season
  6. land — to come down
  7. chest — of your body
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. file — a line of people
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. land — a country
  12. wake — a trail
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. file — a tool
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. chest — a box
  19. spring — of water
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. land — ground
  22. file — a document
  23. spring — a coil
  24. ruler — a monarch

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