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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · pound · kid · calf · capital · lean

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — to bend
  4. capital — money
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — a box
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. chest — of your body
  10. capital — a city
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. kid — to tease
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pound — a weight
  18. kid — child

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