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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cell — a phone
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. court — of law
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to bend
  10. capital — money
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stock — goods
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — to wash
  17. stock — shares
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. court — of a king
  20. shower — rain
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. capital — a city

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