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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wound — an injury
  8. roll — a list
  9. pop — to visit
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. shower — rain
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pop — soda
  15. clip — a video
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pop — music
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. roll — a cake
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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