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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a line of people
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. clip — for paper
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. file — a document
  9. root — the cause
  10. root — of a word
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitch — completely
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mark — a trace
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. file — a tool
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. root — of a plant
  24. clip — a video

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