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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. dip — to sink
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. clip — for paper
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. chip — for betting
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. craft — a skill
  12. field — for sport
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. field — farmland
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. clip — a video
  18. craft — boats
  19. chip — to eat
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. clip — to cut
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. field — a subject

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