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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 124 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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. saw — the tool
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. wind — moving air
  10. land — a country
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. bass — the fish
  13. land — ground
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rash — hasty
  16. march — the month
  17. land — to come down
  18. rash — a series
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — low music
  22. march — music
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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