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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: pass · spell · game · cold · straw · sharp · clip · calf

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. pass — a permit
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spell — letters
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spell — magic

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