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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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Word bank
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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 · calf · racket · stem · chair · shower

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chest — of your body
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. chest — a box
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. shower — to wash
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. shower — rain
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — a leader
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. stem — to come from
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. stem — of a plant

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