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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.

Words on the sheet
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: mine · coach · shower · chair · wound · tear · field · calf

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  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. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. field — farmland
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wound — an injury
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. shower — rain
  13. wound — an injury
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. tear — to rip
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — for sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. mine — for digging
  23. chair — a professorship
  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