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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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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: row · branch · field · squash · calf · shower · face · clip

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. field — for sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. face — to confront
  5. clip — a video
  6. squash — the sport
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. clip — for paper
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — to cut
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. row — a line
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. field — farmland
  16. shower — rain
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — a subject
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. branch — a division
  24. squash — to crush

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