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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. squash — the sport
  4. game — a match
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. spell — a short time
  7. land — to come down
  8. clip — a video
  9. squash — to crush
  10. land — a country
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. clip — to cut
  14. content — happy
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. present — the time now
  17. spell — magic
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. present — a gift
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — there
  22. game — wild animals
  23. spell — letters
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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