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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. land — a country
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. land — ground
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. field — a subject
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. dip — to sink
  12. land — to come down
  13. perch — the fish
  14. foot — a measure
  15. field — for sport
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. field — farmland
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. branch — a division
  23. spring — a coil
  24. branch — of a bank

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