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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: shower · calf · arm · press · hand · march · stick · kid

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — rain
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. march — the month
  7. press — a publisher
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. march — music
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. press — to push
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. press — newspapers
  20. kid — to tease
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  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