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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. 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. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. hand — help
  11. race — humankind
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. branch — a division
  17. hand — in cards
  18. 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