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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. spell — letters
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. clip — a video
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. clip — to cut

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