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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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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: bear · mate · pound · spell · calf · root · field · clip

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  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. spell — a short time
  2. mate — a partner
  3. spell — letters
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. field — farmland
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spell — magic
  11. root — of a word
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pound — a weight
  14. field — for sport
  15. root — of a plant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. field — a subject
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. mate — to breed
  23. root — the cause
  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