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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. degree — from a university
  3. spell — letters
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bank — for money
  6. drill — army training
  7. bank — for money
  8. file — a document
  9. saw — the tool
  10. file — a tool
  11. spell — magic
  12. saw — the tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. spell — a short time
  16. drill — a practice
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wound — an injury
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bank — of a river
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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