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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. degree — an amount
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. squash — the sport
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. spring — of water
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pound — a weight
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cell — a phone
  21. spring — the season
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. coach — a trainer
  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