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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. staff — a stick
  3. root — of a word
  4. file — a document
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. file — a tool
  8. last — to go on
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. root — the cause
  12. net — for catching
  13. root — of a plant
  14. net — after costs
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — hurry
  17. last — finally
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. degree — an amount
  20. net — in sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. last — final
  23. degree — temperature
  24. file — a line of people

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