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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. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. last — final
  3. track — to keep track
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. land — a country
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. land — to come down
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. last — to go on
  12. clip — a video
  13. mate — a partner
  14. land — ground
  15. bass — low music
  16. last — finally
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. track — a song
  19. bass — the fish
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. track — a path
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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