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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. pit — a fruit stone
  2. last — finally
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — to breed
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pit — in a race
  10. last — to go on
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. land — ground
  13. pit — a hole
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. land — a country
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. last — final
  23. land — to come down
  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