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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. clip — to cut
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. band — a ring
  5. rule — a law
  6. clip — a video
  7. spring — of water
  8. rule — government
  9. object — an aim
  10. spring — the season
  11. hand — help
  12. drill — a practice
  13. band — a music group
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. drill — the tool
  16. object — to protest
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. clip — for paper
  20. drill — army training
  21. spring — a coil
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. object — a thing

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