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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — for paper
  6. race — humankind
  7. clip — to cut
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to sink
  10. band — a music group
  11. land — to come down
  12. band — a ring
  13. suit — in cards
  14. cold — not warm
  15. suit — to fit
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. race — a contest
  19. cold — an illness
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. suit — clothes
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. race — the arms race

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