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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. capital — a city
  3. clip — for paper
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — to cut
  9. net — after costs
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. spell — magic
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — farmland
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. spell — letters
  19. clip — a video
  20. field — for sport
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. field — a subject
  24. hide — animal skin

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