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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. pop — music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. pop — to visit
  9. press — to push
  10. spring — a coil
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cold — not warm
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pop — soda
  20. toast — bread
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. press — newspapers
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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