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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. file — a tool
  3. clip — to cut
  4. drill — army training
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. clip — for paper
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. hand — help
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. drill — a practice
  20. clip — a video
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. drill — the tool
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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