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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. stand — to bear
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. bound — obliged
  10. club — a group
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bound — tied together
  14. spring — of water
  15. bound — certain
  16. capital — money
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — for golf
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. spring — the season

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