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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. clip — to cut
  11. lean — to bend
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. lean — thin
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. object — a thing
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — a video
  23. bass — low music
  24. rash — a series

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