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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. press — to push
  6. press — newspapers
  7. last — to go on
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. press — a publisher
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kick — in football
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mine — for digging
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chip — for betting

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