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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. clip — for paper
  6. craft — boats
  7. march — music
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. craft — a skill
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — the month
  24. clip — a video

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