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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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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: straw · roll · race · mug · clip · calf · coach · hand

  1. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. hand — help
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mug — a face
  6. clip — to cut
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — a video
  12. race — humankind
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. roll — a list
  16. mug — a cup
  17. race — a contest
  18. hand — in cards
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. mug — to rob
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. race — the arms race

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