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

Word bank: pitcher · swing · content · kid · clip · last · deal · calf

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. last — to go on
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. swing — in golf
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. last — final
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. last — finally
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — music
  23. deal — to handle
  24. pitcher — a jug

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