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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 giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. shower — rain
  3. land — a country
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. land — to come down
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hand — help
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. land — ground
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. chest — of your body
  23. branch — a division
  24. wind — moving air

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