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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mug — a face
  4. mug — a cup
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rock — music
  8. wax — to grow
  9. game — a match
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rock — a stone
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. mug — to rob
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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