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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. object — to protest
  4. clip — a video
  5. track — a path
  6. track — a song
  7. track — to keep track
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. object — an aim
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. land — a country
  22. object — a thing
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. calf — a young animal

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