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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bear — the animal
  8. perch — the fish
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. field — a subject
  11. bear — the animal
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. clip — for paper
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — for sport
  17. ground — the earth
  18. field — farmland
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. ground — a position
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. calf — a young animal

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