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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. chest — of your body
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bass — low music
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bark — to shout
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chest — a box
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bass — the fish
  23. court — of a king
  24. bowl — a football final

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