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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 · fork · calf · tear · court · last

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — of your body
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. last — finally
  5. court — for sport
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. last — to go on
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tear — from crying
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. chest — of your body
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. last — final
  17. chest — a box
  18. calf — a young animal

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