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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. clip — to cut
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. fall — the season
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. fall — to drop
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — for paper
  20. stem — to come from
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. kid — child

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