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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. board — to get on
  4. last — to go on
  5. cell — a phone
  6. last — finally
  7. board — a committee
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cell — in biology
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. clip — to cut
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. last — final
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. dip — to sink
  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