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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. craft — a skill
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. clip — to cut
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. craft — boats
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wound — an injury
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. march — the month
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. capital — money
  24. clip — a video

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