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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hand — help
  3. mate — a partner
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. fall — the season
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a friend
  16. fall — to drop
  17. scale — in music
  18. tube — a container
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. scale — size or range
  21. stock — shares
  22. hand — in cards
  23. stock — goods
  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