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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — of water
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. vault — a safe
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. field — a subject
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spring — a coil
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. march — music
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  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