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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bear — the animal
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fork — in a road
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bear — the animal
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. hand — in cards
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. swing — to play on
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. chest — a box
  23. swing — music
  24. clip — to cut

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