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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — to cut
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. court — of law
  7. bore — to tire
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — to recline
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hand — in cards
  12. clip — for paper
  13. court — of a king
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. clip — a video
  24. bore — to drill

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