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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: craft · bulb · field · pit · cold · calf · clip · lash

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bulb — for light
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. field — for sport
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. craft — boats
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bulb — for light
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. craft — a skill
  24. clip — a video

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