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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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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fine — all right
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitch — completely
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. spring — the season
  18. calf — of the leg

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