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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. game — wild animals
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. rock — music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rock — a stone
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. net — for catching
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a match
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. clip — to cut
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. clip — a video

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