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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · pitch · clip · straw · swing · calf · last · scale

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — finally
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. last — to go on
  7. swing — music
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. last — final
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. swing — in golf
  15. pitch — completely
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. clip — a video
  18. scale — size or range
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. swing — to play on

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