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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. court — for sport
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. field — for sport
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — in football
  8. field — farmland
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chip — for betting
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chip — to eat
  19. clip — a video
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. field — a subject

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