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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. clip — a video
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. clip — for paper
  6. land — ground
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. foot — a measure
  13. land — a country
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cell — in biology
  20. clip — to cut
  21. hand — help
  22. land — to come down
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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