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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. craft — boats
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. race — humankind
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. clip — a video
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — help
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. hand — in cards
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. race — the arms race
  19. staff — employees
  20. race — a contest
  21. craft — a skill
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. calf — of the leg

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