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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 giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. file — a document
  8. rash — a series
  9. branch — a division
  10. rash — hasty
  11. file — a tool
  12. club — a group
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. land — to come down
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. file — a line of people
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. clip — a video
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. branch — of a tree

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