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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to bend
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. spring — of water
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. tube — a container
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spring — a coil

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