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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — the season
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. present — a gift
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — size or range
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. scale — in music
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rash — a series
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. present — the time now
  21. spring — a coil
  22. rash — hasty
  23. spring — of water
  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