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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. present — a gift
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. toast — bread
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. file — a tool
  9. present — the time now
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. present — there
  12. file — a line of people
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. snap — to click
  19. lean — to bend
  20. file — a document
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. calf — of the leg

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