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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bound — tied together
  3. ball — a dance
  4. roll — a cake
  5. fine — high quality
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. root — of a word
  8. bound — obliged
  9. roll — a list
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. scale — size or range
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. clip — for paper
  16. scale — in music
  17. bound — certain
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. root — the cause
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. fine — all right
  24. root — of a plant

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