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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 120 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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. game — a match
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. clip — for paper
  7. land — a country
  8. bore — to tire
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. land — ground
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bore — to drill
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stand — to bear
  24. land — to come down

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