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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 116 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 · cold · band · fall · charge · clip · craft · rest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cold — an illness
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. charge — in control
  6. rest — what's left
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rest — what's left
  11. fall — to drop
  12. charge — electricity
  13. band — a music group
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. clip — a video
  17. rest — a break
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. band — a ring
  20. craft — boats
  21. craft — a skill
  22. charge — a price
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — not warm

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