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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. wake — a trail
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. sharp — clever
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. field — farmland
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in biology
  22. field — a subject
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. clip — for paper

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