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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — for sport
  4. clip — to cut
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. field — farmland
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. saw — the tool
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. clip — a video
  21. field — a subject
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. straw — a straw man

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