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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — a box
  5. cell — a phone
  6. clip — a video
  7. pop — soda
  8. clip — for paper
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. sharp — clever
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pop — music
  16. tear — to rip
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. chest — of your body
  19. stand — to bear
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pop — to visit
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stand — for spectators

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