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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. lean — thin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — a publisher
  9. court — of a king
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cold — an illness
  12. firm — a company
  13. press — to push
  14. firm — steady
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. row — a line
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. lean — to bend
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. firm — decided
  22. press — newspapers
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. calf — a young animal

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