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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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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: wind · leaves · bark · clip · calf · deal · row · racket

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bark — to shout
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. clip — for paper
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. deal — to handle
  12. clip — a video
  13. row — a line
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wind — moving air
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. wind — moving air
  24. row — to paddle

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