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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 wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  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. pass — to spend time
  3. mate — to breed
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. perch — the fish
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mate — a partner
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of a king
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pass — a permit
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mate — a friend
  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