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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 116 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. kid — child
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mate — a friend
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — a video
  14. mate — to breed
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. degree — an amount
  21. scale — in music
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bowl — a football final

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