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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. bat — the animal
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. mug — to rob
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. clip — a video
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. mug — a face
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. clip — to cut
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mug — a cup

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