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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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468
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: dip · hand · spring · cell · craft · calf · straw · bat

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bat — the animal
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spring — the season
  9. hand — in cards
  10. craft — boats
  11. cell — a phone
  12. craft — a skill
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in biology

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