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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fall — the season
  9. saw — the tool
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. game — a match
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. kick — in football
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — to cut
  23. game — wild animals
  24. fall — to drop

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