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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 116 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: clip · land · stand · spell · calf · bank · sharp · straw

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. land — ground
  3. clip — a video
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — magic
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stand — to bear
  9. land — to come down
  10. bank — of a river
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. clip — to cut
  13. land — a country
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — for money
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spell — letters
  23. sharp — clever
  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