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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. court — of a king
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. court — for sport
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. clip — a video
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. rush — hurry
  14. clip — to cut
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. court — of law
  17. plane — a tool
  18. club — a group
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — from a university
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — for dancing

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