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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. tube — a container
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cell — a phone
  8. squash — the sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. court — of law
  15. squash — to crush
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. court — for sport
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. calf — of the leg

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