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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 120 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. march — the month
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wound — an injury
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. march — the month
  11. bark — to shout
  12. game — a match
  13. row — a line
  14. march — music
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. can — to be able to
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. game — a kind of play

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