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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 protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. roll — a cake
  4. pop — music
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. root — of a plant
  7. mark — a grade
  8. court — for sport
  9. last — final
  10. rash — a series
  11. roll — a list
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. court — of law
  15. pop — soda
  16. last — to go on
  17. root — of a word
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. last — finally
  21. pop — to visit
  22. rash — hasty
  23. mark — a trace
  24. root — the cause

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