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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. stand — to bear
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bass — low music
  9. chest — a box
  10. present — a gift
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. present — the time now
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. present — there
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. lie — to recline
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. clip — a video
  24. mine — an explosive

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