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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 sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — hasty
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. clip — a video
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. clip — to cut
  14. branch — a division
  15. pop — soda
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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