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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: bat · calf · stick · bowl · rule · kid

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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. bowl — a dish
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. rule — a law
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. kid — to tease
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bat — the animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  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