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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 120 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: calf · cold · straw · pop · chair · pitcher · wax · land

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. land — a country
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pop — music
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. pop — to visit
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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