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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a document
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bound — obliged
  12. cap — a lid
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. file — a line of people
  16. capital — a city
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bound — certain
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. kid — to tease
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kid — child
  24. file — a tool

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