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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: stick · court · field · can · calf · kid · present · clip

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. present — the time now
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. present — there
  8. field — farmland
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. can — to be able to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. clip — to cut
  13. can — a tin
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. court — of law
  18. clip — a video
  19. can — a tin
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. present — a gift
  22. kid — to tease
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. kid — child

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