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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. last — finally
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mark — a grade
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. rock — music
  22. rock — a stone
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mark — a trace

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