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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · squash · chair · clip · calf · drill

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. squash — to crush
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. squash — the sport
  8. drill — army training
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. chair — a leader
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. clip — a video
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice

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