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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: land · stock · trunk · cap · capital · calf · bat · hand

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. land — ground
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. stock — goods
  9. cap — of ice
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. land — to come down
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — money
  19. cap — a lid
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. land — a country

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