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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bound — obliged
  9. last — finally
  10. mug — a face
  11. kid — child
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. last — to go on
  20. pit — in a race
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — final
  24. mug — a cup

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