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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bass — low music
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wind — moving air
  8. press — newspapers
  9. pit — a hole
  10. plane — a tool
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. wind — moving air
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. press — to push
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pit — in a race
  24. clip — a video

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