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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. last — to go on
  4. season — in sport
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. shower — rain
  7. clip — for paper
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. last — final
  14. field — a subject
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. last — finally
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. season — of the year
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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