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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — for paper
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. march — music
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — of water
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — low music
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. march — the month
  22. bass — the fish
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. mouse — for a computer

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