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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mug — to rob
  5. foot — a measure
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. clip — for paper
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mark — a grade
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mug — a face
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. degree — from a university
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mug — a cup
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. clip — a video
  24. mark — a trace

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