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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. firm — decided
  4. season — in sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. last — to go on
  10. firm — steady
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. march — the month
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. clip — a video
  17. firm — a company
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. clip — to cut
  21. last — final
  22. file — a document
  23. season — of the year
  24. stem — a stem cell

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