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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. chest — of your body
  3. capital — money
  4. saw — the tool
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stock — goods
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. capital — a city
  12. chest — a box
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. last — final
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stock — shares
  22. last — to go on
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. calf — of the leg

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