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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: straw · date · game · land · calf · bat · cap · content

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. game — a match
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bat — the animal
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. land — to come down
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. content — the amount
  22. date — the fruit
  23. game — wild animals
  24. straw — dry grass

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