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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. firm — decided
  9. kid — child
  10. shower — rain
  11. snap — to click
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spring — the season
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — ground
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. firm — a company
  20. spring — of water
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. kid — to tease
  23. firm — steady
  24. mine — for digging

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