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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: net · stick · shower · calf · leaves · snap · court · ground

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. ground — a position
  3. net — after costs
  4. snap — to click
  5. shower — rain
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. net — for catching
  8. ground — the earth
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. court — for sport
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. net — in sport
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. court — of a king
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. shower — to wash
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. court — of law
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. ground — crushed
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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