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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: board · stick · kid · clip · key · ground · cold · calf

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. key — the most important part
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. ground — crushed
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. cold — not warm
  9. clip — to cut
  10. board — to get on
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. board — a committee
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. key — in music
  24. key — for a lock

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