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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 · chest · wind · ball · present · prune · fork

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. present — the time now
  7. present — there
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chest — a box
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. ball — a great time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. prune — to trim

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