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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. capital — money
  3. last — final
  4. clip — a video
  5. object — an aim
  6. sharp — clever
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. object — to protest
  9. capital — a city
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. object — a thing
  16. last — to go on
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — to visit
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. last — finally

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