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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. cell — a phone
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. toast — bread
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. bat — the animal
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — to get on
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. clip — for paper

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