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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bass — the fish
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bore — to drill
  5. bore — to tire
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. court — for sport
  8. bass — low music
  9. court — of a king
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. wake — a trail
  18. mine — for digging
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. court — of law
  24. saw — the tool

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