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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. club — for dancing
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. club — for golf
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. staff — employees
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. clip — for paper
  14. lean — to bend
  15. staff — a stick
  16. lean — thin
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — a video
  21. staff — employees
  22. club — a group
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cold — an illness

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