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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. roll — a cake
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. branch — a division
  7. fall — to drop
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fall — the season
  18. tear — from crying
  19. roll — a list
  20. mate — a friend
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mate — to breed
  23. tear — to rip
  24. calf — a young animal

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