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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. charge — a price
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a tool
  9. clip — a video
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. file — a document
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — to cut
  18. charge — electricity

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