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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. field — a subject
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spell — a short time
  7. club — a group
  8. field — for sport
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. shower — rain
  11. kid — to tease
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. club — for dancing
  18. field — farmland
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — magic
  21. kid — child
  22. club — for golf
  23. file — a document
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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