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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: fan · clip · cold · hide · calf · hand · mug · branch

  1. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hand — help
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. mug — a face
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — a division
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mug — to rob
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mug — a cup

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