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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. file — a line of people
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. file — a document
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. squash — to crush
  12. mine — for digging
  13. squash — the sport
  14. file — a tool
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. chair — a leader
  17. shower — rain
  18. hand — help
  19. shower — to wash
  20. hand — in cards
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. trunk — of a tree

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