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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: snap · bore · mouse · clip · cold · calf · tear · fine

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fine — high quality
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. fine — all right
  8. tear — from crying
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. clip — a video
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to tire

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