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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. saw — the tool
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spring — of water
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. clip — to cut
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. pop — music
  20. fork — in a road
  21. spring — the season
  22. clip — a video
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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