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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — for sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. bark — to shout
  10. hand — in cards
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. rock — a stone
  13. clip — a video
  14. rock — music
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. wind — to turn a key

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