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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: sharp · ground · calf · kid · wax · clip · bat · rest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. kid — child
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kid — to tease
  12. ground — a position
  13. rest — a break
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. clip — for paper
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rest — what's left
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. bat — the animal

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