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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: bore · current · wake · calf · game · spring · clip · ground

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — to drill
  4. game — a match
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. game — wild animals
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. current — electric
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wake — a trail
  14. ground — a position
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — a video
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — of water
  22. ground — the earth
  23. clip — to cut
  24. calf — of the leg

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