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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: sharp · bark · game · saw · cap · calf · mine · bat

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. game — a match
  5. saw — the tool
  6. sharp — clever
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cap — a lid
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cap — a hat
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bat — the animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. 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