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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — temperature
  5. lean — to bend
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. plane — a tool
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. lean — thin
  10. degree — an amount
  11. prune — to trim
  12. degree — from a university
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. row — to paddle
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. clip — for paper
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. plane — in geometry

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