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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bound — tied together
  4. firm — steady
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cold — an illness
  7. press — a publisher
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bound — certain
  11. deal — to handle
  12. firm — a company
  13. press — to push
  14. cold — not warm
  15. march — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bound — obliged
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. firm — decided
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. march — the month

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