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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cap — a hat
  3. clip — for paper
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — a video
  6. row — a line
  7. cap — of ice
  8. mate — a partner
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. clip — to cut
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. mate — a friend
  16. chest — a box
  17. cap — a lid
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. chest — of your body
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. field — for sport
  24. mate — to breed

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