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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 116 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. drill — army training
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. court — for sport
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rash — a series
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. field — a subject
  13. court — of law
  14. drill — a practice
  15. rash — hasty
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. field — for sport
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. field — farmland
  20. deal — to handle
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. drill — the tool
  24. mine — belonging to me

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