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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. saw — the tool
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. mate — a partner
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mate — to breed
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. kid — child
  20. mate — a friend
  21. clip — to cut
  22. branch — a division
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — to shout

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