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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. clip — to cut
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bass — low music
  6. clip — a video
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. craft — boats
  9. ground — a position
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. pop — soda
  12. ground — crushed
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. craft — a skill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bass — the fish
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — for paper
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. pop — music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pop — to visit
  23. scale — in music
  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