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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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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: calf · clip · rest · trunk · cell · ground · present · game

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. ground — the earth
  3. present — there
  4. rest — what's left
  5. clip — for paper
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. game — a match
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rest — a break
  11. present — a gift
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. clip — to cut
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. clip — a video
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. game — wild animals
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. cell — a phone

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