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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. clip — for paper
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. game — wild animals
  7. race — humankind
  8. stem — to come from
  9. drill — the tool
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — army training
  13. game — a match
  14. bank — for money
  15. bank — for money
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. drill — a practice
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bank — of a river

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