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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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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 · band · spring · chest · tear · court · land · ruler

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. chest — a box
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — of a king
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chest — of your body
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. spring — the season
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. court — of law
  16. band — a ring
  17. land — a country
  18. tear — from crying
  19. band — a music group
  20. land — ground
  21. spring — of water
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. spring — a coil

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