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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chair — a leader
  4. season — of the year
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — to go on
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. last — final
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. snap — to click
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. last — finally
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. season — in sport

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