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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. content — the amount
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spring — of water
  5. drill — the tool
  6. ball — a great time
  7. date — the fruit
  8. spring — the season
  9. content — happy
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. drill — a practice
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spell — letters
  14. ball — a dance
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. drill — army training
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. spell — magic

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