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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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. tube — the underground
  3. land — to come down
  4. file — a line of people
  5. season — of the year
  6. file — a document
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. prune — to trim
  11. present — there
  12. file — a tool
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — ground
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. tube — a container
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. court — of law
  23. season — in sport
  24. land — a country

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