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

Word bank: chair · calf · wind · clip · track · lash · tube · cell

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. tube — a container
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. chair — a leader
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cell — a phone
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. tube — the underground
  15. track — a song
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cell — in biology
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. clip — for paper
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. clip — a video

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