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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — of your body
  7. shower — rain
  8. land — to come down
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. land — ground
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chest — a box
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. present — there
  18. foot — a measure
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chest — of your body
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. present — the time now
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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