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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: spring · bay · calf · wound · saw · ball · clip · march

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. ball — a dance
  8. clip — to cut
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — a video
  12. spring — the season
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. march — the month
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. ball — a great time
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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