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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. kid — child
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kid — to tease
  5. court — of a king
  6. current — happening now
  7. root — the cause
  8. row — a line
  9. current — of water
  10. court — for sport
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. root — of a word
  16. current — electric
  17. lean — to bend
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. court — of law
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. root — of a plant
  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