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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: court · ground · craft · calf · band · shower · lie · spring

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. lie — to recline
  3. ground — crushed
  4. craft — boats
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. spring — the season
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. spring — of water
  10. ground — a position
  11. band — a music group
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. spring — a coil
  14. band — a ring
  15. court — of law
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. court — for sport
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. court — of a king
  22. craft — a skill
  23. ground — the earth
  24. shower — to wash

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