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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 120 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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. chest — of your body
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. clip — for paper
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bore — to tire
  9. wind — moving air
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spring — the season
  13. wind — moving air
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. spring — a coil
  16. drill — army training
  17. bore — to drill
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. drill — a practice
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — a box
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chest — of your body

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