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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. row — a line
  3. drill — a practice
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. root — of a word
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stock — shares
  8. chest — a box
  9. band — a ring
  10. drill — the tool
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — to paddle
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — army training
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chest — of your body
  19. root — of a plant
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. root — the cause
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. band — a music group
  24. mine — an explosive

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