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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. scale — in music
  7. snap — to click
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. clip — to cut
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. clip — for paper
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. tear — to rip
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. clip — a video
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. tear — from crying

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