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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bass — the fish
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. pass — a permit
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. chest — of your body
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. chest — a box
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. roll — a list
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. roll — a cake
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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