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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hand — in cards
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. clip — a video
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — help
  14. rule — a law
  15. chest — a box
  16. rule — government
  17. wax — to grow
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. tear — to rip
  24. calf — a young animal

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