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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bear — the animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. net — in sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — help
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — not warm
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bear — the animal
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. swing — music
  19. net — after costs
  20. ball — a great time
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ball — a dance

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