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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. net — after costs
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. rash — a series
  7. mine — for digging
  8. spring — of water
  9. net — for catching
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — the season
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — in sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. last — final
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rash — hasty
  18. last — to go on
  19. spring — a coil
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. pound — a weight
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. mine — belonging to me

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