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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: clip · calf · face · bear · bat · cold · suit · date

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. face — to confront
  4. clip — a video
  5. bear — the animal
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. suit — clothes
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — the animal
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. suit — in cards
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. suit — to fit
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. clip — for paper
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cold — an illness
  24. face — to point toward

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