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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 120 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. net — in sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — the fish
  5. deal — to handle
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — after costs
  11. clip — a video
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. net — for catching
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — tied together
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. file — a tool
  24. deal — a big deal

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