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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. content — happy
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a face
  8. cell — a phone
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. foot — a measure
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wound — an injury
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mug — a cup
  23. clip — a video
  24. content — videos and posts

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