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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · saw · mate · calf · fan · cabinet · bat · wind

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mate — to breed
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mate — a partner
  18. saw — the tool
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. clip — a video
  23. wind — moving air
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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