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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. root — of a plant
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. field — for sport
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. root — the cause
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. wound — an injury
  13. field — farmland
  14. wound — an injury
  15. root — of a word
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. clip — for paper
  18. field — a subject
  19. lie — to recline
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. leaves — of a tree

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