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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. season — of the year
  4. spell — a short time
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. clip — to cut
  8. swing — music
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. drill — the tool
  11. spell — magic
  12. swing — in golf
  13. kid — child
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. drill — army training
  16. season — in sport
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. swing — to play on
  20. clip — for paper
  21. drill — a practice
  22. kid — to tease
  23. clip — a video
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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