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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — the time now
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — rain
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. present — there
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. bat — the animal
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to click
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. present — a gift
  23. chest — a box
  24. clip — a video

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