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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. fine — all right
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. snap — to click
  7. rest — a break
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. rest — what's left
  12. clip — a video
  13. kid — to tease
  14. clip — to cut
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — child
  17. rest — what's left
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. fine — high quality
  23. date — the fruit
  24. clip — for paper

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