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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 116 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. spell — letters
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. capital — money
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fall — to drop
  11. lean — thin
  12. last — final
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. lean — to bend
  16. spell — magic
  17. capital — a city
  18. fall — to drop
  19. net — for catching
  20. last — finally
  21. spell — a short time
  22. fall — the season
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. last — to go on

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