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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 did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. press — to push
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. ground — crushed
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — in biology
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. spring — the season
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. spring — of water
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — the earth
  18. press — newspapers
  19. ground — a position
  20. press — a publisher
  21. clip — for paper
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. lash — an eyelash

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