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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.

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: foot · cold · bat · calf · leaves · court · hide · hand

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. court — of a king
  5. hand — help
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — not warm
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — for sport
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. foot — a measure
  23. court — of law
  24. leaves — of a tree

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