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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. last — to go on
  4. track — to keep track
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. season — of the year
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spring — the season
  11. track — a song
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. spring — of water
  15. season — in sport
  16. spring — a coil
  17. track — a path
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. last — finally
  21. last — final
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. temple — a place of worship

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