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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bound — tied together
  3. field — a subject
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. bore — to tire
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bound — obliged
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — to cut
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. vault — a safe
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bound — certain
  16. field — for sport
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. field — farmland
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. snap — to click
  23. bore — to drill
  24. straw — dry grass

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