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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 116 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: land · calf · tube · wake · patient · straw · file · net

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. net — in sport
  4. land — ground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. land — a country
  7. net — after costs
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. tube — a container
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. tube — the underground
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. wake — a trail
  17. land — to come down
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. net — for catching
  22. file — a tool
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. straw — a straw man

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