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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. land — a country
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. net — in sport
  7. root — of a word
  8. net — after costs
  9. hand — help
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. land — ground
  12. net — for catching
  13. root — of a plant
  14. toast — bread
  15. land — to come down
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. court — of a king
  18. squash — the sport
  19. root — the cause
  20. hand — in cards
  21. squash — to crush
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. court — of law
  24. hand — part of the body

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