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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. present — the time now
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bore — to tire
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cold — an illness
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. clip — a video
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — to tease
  19. clip — for paper
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. present — there
  22. saw — the tool
  23. kid — child
  24. bore — gave birth

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