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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: ball · pop · calf · mark · kid · hand · row · saw

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — help
  7. mark — a trace
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pop — to visit
  11. mark — a grade
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pop — soda
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. row — a line
  16. pop — music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. ball — a dance
  20. row — to paddle
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. ball — a great time

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