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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spring — the season
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. court — for sport
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. field — a subject
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — of water
  14. foot — a measure
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — for digging
  17. field — for sport
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — of law
  24. fork — in a road

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