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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — a phone
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. spring — of water
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. clip — a video
  13. game — wild animals
  14. spring — the season
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. clip — for paper
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. rule — government
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rule — a law
  24. cell — in biology

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