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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. cell — in biology
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fall — the season
  6. race — the arms race
  7. swing — in golf
  8. race — humankind
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. kid — to tease
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. fall — to drop
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — a contest
  17. field — farmland
  18. fall — to drop
  19. swing — music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. swing — to play on
  24. cell — a phone

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