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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 120 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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. spell — magic
  4. bore — to tire
  5. ground — crushed
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. swing — music
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. swing — in golf
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. bore — to drill
  14. clip — to cut
  15. file — a line of people
  16. swing — to play on
  17. clip — a video
  18. spell — letters
  19. mine — for digging
  20. ground — a position
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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