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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.

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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: snap · straw · court · bore · calf · cell · shower · mine

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. court — of law
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bore — to drill
  10. court — of a king
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. court — for sport
  13. mine — for digging
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bore — to tire
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — a straw man

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