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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 protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. deal — to handle
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. clip — to cut
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — for digging
  11. roll — a cake
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — an illness
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cold — not warm
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. clip — a video
  21. season — in sport
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. roll — a list
  24. pound — a weight

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