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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. degree — temperature
  4. staff — employees
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. lie — to recline
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. staff — a stick
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. hand — help
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. staff — employees
  24. degree — an amount

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