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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. rock — music
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. rock — a stone
  10. clip — a video
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. snap — to click
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. sharp — exactly

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