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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — goods
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. ball — a dance
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. band — a ring
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — a video
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stock — shares
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. clip — to cut
  17. root — the cause
  18. ball — a great time
  19. kid — child
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. kid — to tease

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