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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 124 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. file — a line of people
  3. date — the fruit
  4. shower — to wash
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. clip — for paper
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. clip — a video
  17. rush — hurry
  18. kick — in football
  19. fall — to drop
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. shower — rain
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. date — on the calendar

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