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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: rush · tube · saw · bowl · chest · calf · bat · date

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. tube — a container
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bat — the animal
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. saw — the tool
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. bowl — to roll

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