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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. squash — to crush
  4. rock — a stone
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tear — to rip
  12. land — ground
  13. game — a match
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. land — a country
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — the animal
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — to come down
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. chest — a box
  23. rock — music
  24. game — a kind of play

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