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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. stem — to come from
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. cell — in biology
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. perch — the fish
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wind — moving air
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. hand — in cards
  23. lie — to recline
  24. cell — a phone

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