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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bear — the animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. press — newspapers
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bear — the animal
  8. press — a publisher
  9. wound — an injury
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. press — to push
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wound — an injury
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. squash — the sport
  24. calf — of the leg

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