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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a leader
  4. prune — to trim
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. last — finally
  9. chip — to eat
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chip — for betting
  16. last — to go on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. last — final
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. prune — to trim
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — a video
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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